


Jigsaw

by Octogator



Category: Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Reapers, F/M, M/M, Mentor/Protégé, Multi, Polyamory, unedited
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-05
Updated: 2018-09-07
Packaged: 2019-06-22 09:47:15
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 24,538
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15579183
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Octogator/pseuds/Octogator
Summary: This is an old Masskink I started to fill but lost the drive. I've decided to pick it back up and finish it!Saren Arterius is forced into taking on not one but two potential Spector candidates and he isn't at all happy about it. Somewhere along the way during his trial by fire method of training, they manage to work their way under his plates to become tolerable enough to keep.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> The first few chapters of this might be a little rough. I've gone through and done some edits to try and clean it up. First, few chapters are already written... like two years ago...maybe three? I decided I should stop sulking about wanting more Saren/people work and write and post some of my own.

“She was meant to be Nihlus’ pet project, not mine.” Saren all but hissed as he advanced as far as the podium aloud. 

“Surely Spectre Saren’s views on humanity gives him a bias, is there not another Spectre willing to take on Commander Shepard?” The Human ambassador all but whined. Shoving passed Saren to appeal to the council.

He was practically groveling.

It was disgusting.

“Are you insinuating Ambassador, that I will let my feelings get in the way of evaluating a potential Spectre? I assure you, my… dislike for your species aside will have nothing to do with the fact this… Commander Shepard likely cannot meet my standards. Few trainees can.” Saren glared down his nose at the quivering little man who was turning a very interesting shade of red. 

He made a point of slowly and deliberately flexing his claws before turning back to the council. 

“Spectre, we ask you, because we trust that you will give an open and honest evaluation of Humanities readiness. If Commander Shepard can meet your expectations then it will be a huge step forward for their race. If Shepard can impress you where Anderson failed then humans may very well be ready to join us.” Teevos calm voice seemed to sooth the gurgling human ambassador and Sarens Mandibles clicked against his chin hard.

At least Sparatus looked about as thrilled as Saren felt.

“What of this Vakarian whelp? I was meant to take him under my wing after his involvement in the Saleon case.” He was grasping at straws at this point. He was about as thrilled to take on the Vakarian boy as he was in taking on the Human.

He fully approved of the boy's use of force and commandeering of a C-Sec vehicle to chase down Saleon, may even have considered putting the boy's name in for a recommendation if he had been brought to Saren’s attention. But the boy was being shoved off on Saren, Sparatus was a close friend of the boy's mother and decided to pull the boy into Spectre training instead of letting him be punished for his hotheadedness. 

Sparatus had intended to shove the boy on Saren just like the Council was shoving this… human commander on him now.

“Not a problem, your ship, your skills, is enough to house and nurture both,” Valren spoke, quickly. 

“Evaluating two Spectre trainees at the same time is uncommon, but it has been done. Saren, you will take on both Vakarian and Shepard as your Trainees, I will send you there files and they are both to report to your ship in three days time.”

Saren didn’t bother to repress the hiss of displeasure, at least the human ambassador had the sense to leave quickly. The council's holograms blinked away and his omnitool pinged with both of the files.

The pale Spectre growled loudly enough that several passing diplomats shot him a fearful look and made a hasty retreat. Once he was in the relative safety and privacy of the elevator he gave in to his rage and punched the wall. It was bad enough he was being forced to mentor the C-Sec dropout, but now he got a human tag along as well. 

Bringing up the files on his omnitool he skimmed through them, it looked like he had a lot of reading to do over the next three days.

And a strongly worded letter to Nihlus to write.

\---

Commander Shepard, Born Mindoir, lost the entirety of her family during the Batarian slaver attack, joined the Alliance at 18 and quickly rose through the ranks. Was on Elysium during the Skyllian Blitz, single-handedly rallied civilians and held back attackers until reinforcements came. She was married to the job, determined to get the job done. Her penchant for self-sacrifice for the sake of the mission was amicable.

But her need to save every civilian would be a problem. Saren would have to break her of that, not everyone can be saved.

Biotic, vanguard, even Saren had to admit that she was fairly powerful, considering her size and the fact that she was human.

\---

Commander Shepard was currently at the bar in Chora’s Den throwing back one last drink with her crew before she started her mission.

“Here’s to top-secret missions.” Alenko toasted, clinking his shot glass to Shepard. “For an indeterminate amount of time,” Joker added, leaning forward to knock his glass against hers as well.

Shepard laughed, throwing back her shot and grinned at the small group who came out with her. She had only been there XO for the short trip from Arcturus Station to the Citadel after Anderson informed her that she was going to be undertaking a mission with a Council Spectre.

They were a good crew, It was a shame she wouldn’t get to know them better. 

She didn’t find out what the mission was, or even why they wanted her until she was on the Citadel and spoke with Ambassador Udina.

Just the memory of that conversation warranted another shot. As if forcing the star of Terra onto her chest wasn’t enough now they expected her to represent humanity, show that humans were ready to stand beside the council races and be one of their legendary Spectre’s.

Jane Shepard would be the last to admit that she wasn’t up for a challenge, but that was a lot to put on one human's shoulders.

Especially when that human barely hit five foot six.

And according to Anderson this Mentor of hers, Saren Arterius, was a notorious human hater and would go out of his way to sabotage her evaluation. On the bright side, she would get to go on cool Spectre missions and see more of the galaxy, under a Spectre who has been one over twenty years, when the average lifespan of a Spectre was a decade tops.

Sure he was brutally effective, but Shepard had to admit it was flattering in a way, to be assigned one of the best to mentor her, even if he was a human-hating prick. 

Anderson's words, not hers.

Alenko and Jenkins were trying to goad her into dancing, while Joker cackled from the bar. Just when she about to be forcefully shoved onto the dance floor by the two men she was saved by the urgent beeping of her omnitool.

“I got to get to the docks in thirty, the Spectre wants to leave early.” She spoke quickly, gave out a handful of short goodbyes and raced to the rapid transit.

Stopping at the Normandy and then making it to the Spectre’s ship in, she checked her omnitool, twenty-seven minutes was going to be tight.

\---

Garrus Vakarian, born in Cipritine on Palaven, Father a decorated C-Sec officer, performed well during his mandatory military career, high marks as a marksman and in hand to hand combat. A bit of a rebellious streak but nowhere near as bad as Nihlus was. Took down several crime rings on the Citadel, but had several marks on his file for excessive force and disobeying orders.

The latest one being overriding the Citadel's Defense grid and gunning down a Doctor Saleon. Reading the case files Saren felt he would have likely done something similar, those hostages were dead either way.

\---

Garrus had been on unpaid leave for two weeks, dodging calls from both his father and his sister and wondering why he hadn’t been formally dismissed from C-Sec. But then he was called into Pallin's office where he and the Turian Councillor explained that he was going to be mentored by a Spectre.

Sure, that Spectre was Saren Arterius, whose disregard for collateral damage was as notorious as his hatred for humans.

But he had the chance to become a Spectre, to be his own law and be beyond all the red tape. 

Now he moved through his small apartment in the wards, checking that everything was in order, that he hadn’t forgotten anything, that there wasn’t something that would rot in his cooling unit. 

The C-Sec- no... Ex C-Sec Officer, Pallin had made that very clear, had briefly considered selling his apartment, it was unlikely they would spend more than a few days at any given time on the Citadel during his mentorship after all. 

In the end, he had decided to keep it, it would be nice to have a place to crash when they did come through the Citadel and Garrus had grown attached to the place.

His Omnitool pinged just after he finished pass number four and he had been considering the Dextro beers he had left in his fridge. 

Looking at the message, he was glad he turned down his C-Sec buddies offer for a last send off. The Spectre wanted them on his ship in thirty minutes. Thankfully Garrus was packed, all of his armor, weapons, and personal items were beside the door in two crates. 

Throwing one last look at his apartment, his home during his time at C-Sec, he picked up his crates and rushed to the nearest Mass Transit.

\---

The ‘Ventus’ was a sleek mid-size ship of Turian design, it was dark and beautiful in its own right, but it also held a sense of dread, an Ominous air to it that spoke of danger and power.

Unsurprising considering the man who made it his home.

Saren waited in the airlock, waiting and watching for his new recruits. His message had been very clear, Be at the docks in thirty minutes, or I will leave you behind.  
They had fourteen minutes to be on his ship.

Vakarian arrived first, He was a tall, slimmer version of his father his sub vocals nearly humming with how excited he was. Saren didn’t even shift from his stance, arms folded behind his back until Vakarian was standing in the airlock.

“Spectre Arterius” The whelp ducked his head in greeting. Saren looked at him for a long hard moment before stepping to the side, allowing the boy passage.

He gave a sharp jerk of his head paired with a growl of annoyance. “Load up. Leave your things in the Mess, for now, wait there.” His voice left no room for questions and was clearly an order.

Soldier that Vakarian was he snapped into a salute and gave a quick “Yes, sir.” Before passing through the airlock.

Shepard arrived with four minutes to spare. Her food and medical supplies had been sent earlier that day and she was left with one crate of personal effects, weapons, and armor. He knew she was small in stature for a human, and humans were short as a whole. But this female barely came halfway up his keel bone. Her red hair hung around her face and her green eyes locked on him as soon as she saw his ship. 

She Crossed the dock quickly and was standing in front of him, face flushed and heart pounding by the three-minute mark. “Spectre.” She gave him the Alliance salute and he snorted, glaring down at her.

He smelled the alcohol on her but by the way she had moved and the ridged way she stood she wasn’t drunk. Her eyes were too sharp for her to be drunk. He was judging her, but she was judging him right back, his mandibles flicked in a slight sneer, Udina and Anderson probably warned her that he would sabotage her.

This tiny woman was the best humanity has to offer? Laughable.

Her eyes narrowed and she frowned at him. “I got here within the time restraints, The way I see it, it would be cheating on your part if you made me stand out here until the timer ran out.”

He lowered his brow ridge and glared at her before turning and storming inside. “Go, wait with the welp I’ll deal with you both after we hit the relay.”

She was right behind him as the airlock sealed and he moved to the pilot's seat. She had barely sat down her crate when the ship moved out of docking and headed for the relay. 

It had taken him nearly a month to get used to Nihlus on his ship, invading his space. He doubted he would ever get used to having two unknowns on his ship. One of which is a human. As he set course for the Terminus system he could only hope he could scare the female into giving up, or at least catching a handful of stray bullets.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter two is finished with its little touch ups, I might do three tonight.

Shepard stood next to a tall gray plated turian with dark blue markings. They had given each other a short nod of greeting when she had entered but beyond that, they didn’t speak. Something about the ship, about their Mentor, made it feel like speaking without permission would be a bad idea.

It was half an hour before she broke that unspoken rule and turned her head towards her companion, and looked up, geez why were all turians so tall.

“Your Officer Vakarian right?” It had been briefly mentioned that she would not be undergoing this mentorship alone. Unorthodox as it was the council had insisted on training her along with a turian candidate. Shepard really hoped she didn’t have to look out for two vengeful space raptors.

“That would make you Commander Shepard.” He nodded his head and his Mandibles flared slightly. She hoped that was how turians smiled, she offered him a smile back regardless. She knew very little about Vakarian, other then he used to be C-Sec, she didn’t know much about Saren ether but that wasn’t from lack of trying.

She had exhausted every resource she had to try and learn about her mentor, in hopes that she would learn enough about him to make it through this alive. But all she had learned was that he was considered an excellent Spectre, disliked humans to the point of hate and that everything else was classified.

Now, on an alien ship, surrounded by two seven foot tall predators knowing next to nothing about them, Jane Shepard really regretted not reading one of the codex’s Anderson had sent her. Steeling herself she glanced at the cockpit, door still closed, before looking back up at her fellow trainee.

“I don’t mean to be rude, I’ve just not been around turians before, was that- “ She held up her fingers to the side of her face and tried to mimic the motion he made with his mandibles. “A turian version of a smile?”

This was apparently really funny, as it took Vakarian a moment to repress his laughter. It was a nice sound and Shepard found herself blushing slightly in embarrassment.

Not that she would admit it, Commander Shepard does not blush.

“Spirits… Yes that was a smile, a polite one.” he waved a hand towards his face now, his mandibles spread much wider than before, giving Shepard a clear view of his pointed teeth. “This is more of a grin.”

She nodded and took the chance to get a good look at his face, she rather liked the way his markings swooped over his nose and cheekbones.

“So it wasn’t rude to ask?”

“No… in C-Sec we have a few humans, asking about facial expressions is hardly rude, though it will only get you so far with turians, most of our expressions are expressed through sub vocals outside of your hearing range. It wasn’t that your question was particularly funny… I just thought you were going to actually ask something rude.”

Shepard nodded her understanding before turning back to face the door, sinking back into parade rest.

“So what kind of rude question did you think I was going to ask?”

“Well ‘Is it really blue?’ is one of the more common ones, coming from humans anyway.” He coughed and looked away from her.

“Is what really blue?” This caused him to cough again and his neck grew a blue tint, did turians blush?

She supposed she would have to ask about blushing another time. “Sorry, so… back to the safe subject of facial expressions?”

“Please.”

“What about him?” She waved her hand towards the cockpit door. “His were all up tight to his face and his eyebrow things were angled down.”

“Eyebrow things?” He all but laughed. Shepard rolled her eyes at him and waited.

“He’s a hard read, even for me. He keeps his sub vocals in check and his face is locked in an almost permanent scowl with the jaw implants. So when it comes to reading him we are both at a loss.”

Their conversation was cut short by the hiss of the cockpit doors sliding open.

They both snapped back into attention as their mentor stalked towards them. He even looked at them like they were prey. In Shepard's case, it probably wasn’t that far from the truth, at least compared the armor coated aliens around her.

 

Finally, he let out a growl that could have been a sigh. “I dislike having one of you on my ship, let alone two, I expect you to stay out of my way, and preferably out of my sight when we are not on missions or working together.” He stressed the word together with extreme dislike.

There must have been something going on outside of her range of hearing because Vakarian bristled and the hair rose on her arms.

Saren took no notice of their unease and stood taller, looking down his nasal ridge at them. “Store your weapons and armor in the cargo hold, I expect you to keep them in good repair and inform me if you need replacements.” He flicked one of his clawed hands behind them, gesturing towards the stairway that must lead to the cargo hold.

He took a few steps down the hall before he paused. They hadn’t moved. “Follow me.” He all but growled the order.

Shepard was quicker to snap out of it and step in line, though she nearly regretted it, now that she was sandwiched between these two predators.

The tour of the ship was kept brief thanks to Sarens mood and the size of the ship. A considerable amount of the ship was off limits. Saren quarters and the room across from it were both locked. They had access to the head, an improvised medbay and storage, the central area that acted as a mess and work area, the cargo hold and their joint sleeping area.

He left them there, all but commanding them to deal with their belongings, and in Shepard's case her levo food and medical supplies that waited in the cargo hold, before informing them that they would be arriving at their destination in 14 hours.

They saw him enter the cockpit and door light turns from green to red, before collecting their crates and heading to there room.

It was small, it held four bunks in total, a stack of two on either side of the room. Shepard took the lower bunk on the left side and started to unload her personal effects into the footlocker.

“Well, at least it sounds like he hates us both equally.”

This startled a laugh out of Shepard as she turned to face the turian on the other side of the small room. “Is that so Vakarian? Nice of him not to pull favorites.”

He laughed in return before extending his hand in a very human gesture.

Shepard took, his three taloned hands dwarfing her own as she gave his hand a firm shake.

“Seeing as we’ll be living in close quarters It's just Garrus.”

“Jane, nice to have an ally on the ship”

As they both went back to unpacking Jane relaxed slightly. Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad after all.

\---

Commander Shepard had come to a conclusion.

That not only did her Mentor hate her and her species, but he was also trying to kill her.

Not directly, of course, that would be cheating in whatever this game was she had been strong-armed into. Besides, Garrus would probably tattle on him if he did just outright kill her. Not that the other turian was getting it any easier than she was, Saren was determined not to play favorites.

Stupid snipers getting to be out of proper combat most of the time.

The first mission where Saren wanted to ‘Evaluate’ their combat skills he dropped them on top of an Eclipse base. Merc’s on all sides and precious little cover. While Shepard and Garrus were swarmed by engineers and biotics Saren went under a tactical cloak and let them as he went through the base.

Garrus was shot once and Shepard was shot twice and collected a black eye but by the time Saren returned the remaining Eclipse mercs were smart enough to hide or play dead until the three of them left.

He simply snorted at them and marched back to the ship, expecting them to follow.

The second mission was very much like the first, though this time he dropped them on either side of the base, and it was Blue suns this time. Shepard and Garrus drew out the majority of the mercs forces while Saren got the information he wanted.

Nobody was hurt during that one though after they were all back at the ship Saren waited outside, watching until the base exploded.

It startled both Garrus and Shepard, and Saren flicked his mandibles in what Shepard decided ‘might’ have been a smile.

Maybe a smirk, a smile was to nice of a word for Saren.

He was cold towards them, spoke very little outside of giving orders and kept to himself. What little he did say out of ordering them around were mostly insults, a few were directed at her humanity but for the most part, he kept his insults as professional as he kept his orders.

Garrus was fully convinced that Saren was a robot.

Sometime after Merc base 3, where Shepard got to storm the base and collect information by herself while Garrus and Saren watched, and Merc base 4 where Garrus sat outside and sniped nearly everyone in the base before they wised up and kept out of the sniper's crosshairs Shepard decided to ask him about it.

It was one of the rare moments when the three of them were in the little common area at the same time. Garrus was tinkering with his visor, and Shepard and Saren were eating.

Both were biotics and needed to consume almost twice the amount of calories of a normal member of their species. In Shepard's case that consisted of a variety of different flavored protein bars and MRE’s all tasting vaguely of cardboard but holding the calories she needed.

Judging by the fact that Saren looked more peeved then normal he wasn’t any better off with his... what Shepard could only describe as meat crackers.

“So Sar- Sir…” Shepard started, she ignored Garrus’ panicked gaze and focused on Saren’s cold glare. “I was wondering, with all I’ve been told about you… Why did you decide to take on a human trainee?” She didn’t break his gaze, not that she could really read him, but she was too stubborn to let him bully her into backing out of her questions.

“I did not decide to human.” He had not said her name once since she stepped foot on this ship. “Due to circumstances outside of my control, you were forced on me.” He jerked his head towards Garrus causing the other turian to jump. “As was he.”

“As for what you have been told, I’m sure it’s been tainted with Anderson's emotions… I do not deny or hide my dislike for your kind, Humans ask for too much, demanding a specter, vying for a seat at the council, but offer the galactic community nothing in return.” Shepard nodded in agreement causing Saren to pause a moment before continuing. “But I will not fail you for the sake of my own biased, that will damage my name more then it will hurt humanity.”

“So you’ll be harsh, but fair. Equally throwing the both of us into deadly situations to see if we come back out?” This earned her a snort that she chooses to take as an affirmative.

It was more than she had hoped for, Anderson had been sure Saren would attempt to ruin her, and Udina was sure that Shepard would ruin herself.

“Frankly Udina does ask for too much, he squabbles like a child and demands to be taken seriously. I don’t blame you for seeing the majority of the human race as useless, we are pretty much children compared to everyone else.” She gave a shrug, finally breaking eye contact and returning to her meal.

Saren didn’t respond, but he didn’t leave right away either. The silence that filled the space was almost comfortable.

\---

As awkward as the quiet moments on the ship where they had an understanding on the battlefield. Garrus would find a vantage point, Saren would be close enough that he could wreck the foe with his biotics and pick them off with his pistols.

And Shepard would be in the middle of the enemy, drawing all the fire and luring the bad guys out of their cover. She was a vanguard, she was built to be in the middle of it, alternating between a strike with her fist and a blast of her shotgun. It worked for her, it was like a dance. Not the awful jerky motion she did at clubs, but a proper dance as she charged between enemies in a blaze of blue fire and power that seemed impossible coming from her tiny body.

Saren conceded that she was likely the best the human race had to offer. She was easily the most skilled human he had seen, but that did not mean she would make a good Spectre, nor that humanity as a whole was up to her level.

Vakarian was equally as skilled. He was magnificent with his gun, every shot was quick and clean, dropping any merc foolish enough to poke their head out of cover and clearing out the ones who dared to try and flank the two biotics.

Not quite a perfectly well-oiled ground team, but well enough that they crippled the three largest merc groups in the Terminus systems.

They were on there way back to the Citadel to resupply and refuel when he picked up the distress signal. Had he been alone he would have ignored it, it was alliance and not his problem.

But there were witnesses.

Shepard was in the cockpit at the time trying to goad him into a conversation of some sort and Vakarian was loitering in the hall. The whelp was never very far from the human, not that you could get particularly far from each other on this ship.

The signal leads them to an arid dusty planet, in the center of a sandy bowl that gave Saren a bad feeling.

Shepard was on point, shotgun in hand approaching the damaged shuttle, the beacon blinking away beside it. He saw the signs, soft ground recently disturbed, mangled hunks of regurgitated metal, but before he could give the order to get the hell out of there the ground shook and a thresher maw burst from the ground.

Thank the Spirits it was a small one.

After only one jarring breath they fell back into rhythm. Vakarian and his rifle would be doing most of the work, while Shepard and Saren kept its attention. It was a long fight. He had minor burns on an arm and He could tell Shepard was limping as she darted to a new rocky shelter.

The damn thing was nearly down, it spat a jet of acid as Shepard ducked into cover and he threw a warp at it. Shepard’s pained hiss echoed through the coms.

“Shepard?!”

“Just shoot it Vakarian!” Saren growled popping up and filling the overgrown worm with another clip from his pistol.

He saw the human moving, good, he was just growing to tolerate her it would be a shame to have the ambassador replace her with a more annoying one.

Two barks from a sniper rifle cut through the maw, the beast was bleeding. It let out a screech. Its focus was on Saren as it reeled back for one last attack while Vakarian reloaded. His cover wouldn’t last through another hit of acid. Best bet was to make a run to the rocky outcrop to the left. Hopefully, the welp will have gotten the final shot out by the time the beast fixed its aim.

“Anytime boy.” He spat jumping from cover and darting towards the next.

A lot of things happened at once. Vakarian’s rifle fired, the maw screamed, and someone screamed his name over the coms.

He saw blue, felt a firm impact to his side and smelled the burnt ozone of biotics followed by the stench of maw acid and melting armor.

Not his, his sensors were reporting minimal damage.

Pushing himself upright he dislodged the girl, a streak of maw acid across the back of her chest plate.

“Ship. Now.” He pulled her up with him as he stood, shoving her towards the ship. Only as she stumbled and he had to stop her from falling on her face did Saren remember that she had been limping.

“But the beacon.” She started to argue as he half pulled her towards the flat bit of rock they had landed on.

“NOW Shepard.” Vakarian had made it to him and he shoved her towards him. The sound of her name likely enough to startle her into compliance.

It had certainly startled him.

Vakarian caught her but didn’t move right away. Saren growled and advanced on them. “Get her on the ship and out of that armor!”

That woke the boy up, or the smell of burning armor did. Shepard squawked when Vakarian picked her up and all but ran to the ship.

He disarmed the beacon before heading back to the ship himself. Adrenaline and medigel were wearing off and it felt like he may have a cracked rib where Shepard had charged him. Garrus was in the cargo hold, picking up the discarded pieces of Shepard’s armor.

“Where is she,” he asked, clamping down on the slight worry in his sub-vocals. Him, feel anything but disdain for a human? Ridiculous.

The boy didn't jump this time or hide his own worry. “Shower, some got through the back of her suit. I should help her dress it.” He sat down the damaged armor and turned towards the stairs.

“I’ll do it.” He shucked his own armor and stripped the shirt of his undersuit off. Vakarian let out a sympathetic hiss causing him to actually look down at his damage.

It was a shallow burn, but it ran the length of his left forearm. He couldn’t tell if his ribs were bruised or cracked, but his chest did not hurt enough to warrant broken bones. His pale hide had started to darken from the impact.

“It looks worse than it is.” He shot at Vakarian before heading up the stairs. First one of them takes a hit for him, and now the other expresses concern…

It was easier when they thought he outright hated them, not the fact they were forced on him.

The shower was running and he stopped to grab the appropriate medical supplies, both for her and himself before he stepped through the door.

He kept his gaze on the burnt flesh along the back of her neck and down a shoulder blade. She looked much like an Asari, a short, pink asari. with brown dots across her face and shoulders and strange red fringe.

“Saren?” she turned, letting a hiss out as the water hit her burns. She made no move to cover herself, she was comfortable in her skin as anyone military should be.

“Let me see it.”

“Its fine, you should clean your arm first.”

“Let. Me. See. It.” He ground out with enough force as he waited for her to step out of the water. She set her lips in a stubborn line before turning her back to him and lifting her hair.

He was gentle as he applied medigel and bandages to her burns, deeper than his but not covering as much skin. Finished he let himself run a finger over her shoulder, idle trying to rub the dots off of her soft skin before catching himself.

“Why.” He asked to distract himself, letting his hand fall from her before he stepped under the water himself.

“Give me your arm and I will tell you.”

“No.” He snorted, biting back a hiss as the cold water flushing the dirt and grime from the wound, remains of the thresher acid stinging as it washed away. “Tell me.”

He turned to glare at her but his gaze met hers. Just as stubborn as he was. Maybe more so. Thankfully she had taken the time to pull on one of her tank tops and a pair of shorts before accosting him.

“Arm. Now.” She said in the tone he so often used with them. He shut off the water and turned, very slowly, making sure to growl loud enough that she would hear it.

She didn’t flinch, only looked pointedly at his freshly bleeding wound then back to his eyes.

Another growl and he stepped forward thrusting his arm at her.

She was quiet as she started to clean and dress the wound, he was about to prompt her once more when she finally spoke.

“Your mean, and cranky and I still can’t tell if you like us or just tolerate us. You throw us into situations that would kill someone with lesser training with little to no information about what we will be facing. But you do that because it's your job. Specters don’t have backup most the time so you're teaching us how to work on our own. But you're also teaching us how to work as a team. The three of us. Hell… after what we did to Eclipse it will take them years to rebuild.”

She laughed, securing the bandage on his arm, her fingers still on him, making him feel warm where they traced patterns into his hide.

He wasn’t sure what to make of that so he pulled his arm away from her and deepened his glare. “Your point, Shepard.”

She jumped slightly at the sound of her name.

“My point Saren is that I kinda like working with you. Even if you blow everything up.” She gave him a warm smile that made her eyes sparkle and his plates stir before turning and leaving the room.

He was glad, he did not know if he wanted to snarl, or thank her, strike her or stroke her. Shaking his head he stepped back under the cold spray.

He could tolerate working with them, they were both competent, but having these warm feelings for the human female? It's simply been too long since he had another touch, he would rectify that as soon as they made it to the Citadel.

For now, Vakarian was still in the cargo hold and while the boys hand to hand was good so was Sarens, and he could really use a spar to help clear his head.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I ended up smooshing chapter 3 and 4 together because they were both kinda short and they kinda rolled into one another.

They were on the Citadel barely long enough to restock before they were in route to the Mass Relay once more. Garrus had been lucky enough to get proper food during that time, even if he did end up bringing it back to the ship instead of his apartment.

Shepard had not been so lucky. It took her half an hour to figure out if the Citadel even HAD a burger place, and by the time she had found a likely dive down in the wards she had gotten the summons back to the ship. She cursed the fact that she hadn’t even got the chance to replace her armor as she hurried back to the docks.

Almost two months in space and they got a whole hour and a half of shore leave.

Shepard would have thought Saren did it on purpose if he wasn’t practically fuming. His default mood was cranky, but this? This was a whole new level of upset as he practically growled from the cockpit and sending the ship off as soon as they were onboard. On the plus side, it didn’t seem like this mood was directed at either of them.

Shepard and Garrus had retreated to their bunk, she was picking at the dried meat in her MRE while Garrus enjoyed his real food.

Ok, maybe she was picking at it and glaring at the stupid turian who was making no attempt to hide how much he enjoyed his blue meat gravy thing. It didn’t look or smell particularly appetizing to Shepard, but it was the principle of the thing.

“Would it help if I pretended I wasn’t enjoying it?” There was a slight buzz to his voice, barely hiding his laughter.

“No, you should have done the good and honorable thing and thrown it out since you didn’t bring enough for everyone,” Shepard grumbled, shooting his food a nasty glare.

“I’d share if you wanted to spend the rest of our trip to wherever in anaphylactic shock.” He teased, holding a bite out to her.

She shot him a quick glare and leaned forward, snatching the piece of meat from his tool and popping it into her mouth.

Totally worth wiping that cocky smug look off his face.

“Shepard!?” Though she did feel a bit bad at the panic that replaced it.

She made a point of slowly chewing the bite. It was strange, the texture was different and it was sweeter than she expected, tasting of something she couldn’t quite place. Swallowing she gave Garrus a grin and patted him on the knee. “Relax Garrus, I have a very low Dextro sensitivity, and I was fit with an implant in case of emergencies. Really, a bite that small won’t even give me stomach cramps.”

“You have an implant in case you react badly to Dextro?” He sank back into his seat and tucked back into his meal.

“Well, I’m living on a ship with two turians, and Anderson was sure Saren would swap my food at some point in an attempt to ‘accidentally’ kill me.” She snorted, taking a bite of one of the crackers from her MRE.

“Poison, Naah to subtle. He’s more of a blow you up kinda guy.” Garrus teased

“Oh? and what kind of guy are you?”

“Clean headshot, from at least five hundred meters.” He responded easily. “What about you?”

She shrugged, “I’m a vanguard, I’m an up in your face with a shotgun kinda girl.”

“Pick up many Krogan with that line?”

She bit back a laugh before eating the last of her dry meal. Letting out a sigh leaned back into her bunk. After a few moments, she let out another sigh and rubbed her face. “I don’t suppose I can talk you into providing back up when I tell Saren I didn’t get a chance to replace my armor?”

Shepard was half teasing, she didn’t expect more than yelling and a few choice insults. Maybe some stomping, but Saren was also fairly unpredictable.

“Of course, I wouldn’t miss him shoving you out the airlock for anything.” He grinned before pulling himself into a standing position.

She turned her head just enough to get a good look at him. “You sure? You realize that would make you a witness?” She offered him a grin.

He chuckled in return, offering her a hand and pulling her up. “hmm, safer to stay here then, that way only one of us has to die in the void.” There was a moment of awkward shuffling around each other, Not really enough room for them to stand side by side between their bunks. Garrus chuckled, giving her a little shove towards the door before returning to his bunk. “Better to get it over with now, give you time to steel yourself for doing a mission without armor.”

“You don’t think he would?” She looked over her shoulder at him and Garrus just stared back.

“Ok, yeah he would…”

Taking a breath she glanced down the hall towards Saren’s room and the one across from it. Garrus had asked once and Saren just glared at him. Both were locked, and she didn’t want to actually intrude on her mentor's personal space so she headed towards the cockpit, hoping he was still there.

The door was unlocked, that was a good sign, it meant he was probably in there and about as open to conversation as he ever was. The door whooshed open and she saw the back of his fringe.

“Saren?” He didn’t turn, didn’t flinch, but she didn’t expect him to. After a long moment, he let out a growl that could have been a sigh.

“What is it girl?” he finally ground out.

“I didn’t get a chance to replace my armor.” His fist slammed down on the console and his other hand moved to rub his brow ridge.

“No of course not, we weren’t even there for two hours.” He growled again and tapped at the controls before finally turning to look at her. She fought the urge to squirm under his piercing gaze, with his cybernetic it always made her feel like he was looking through her. She fell into parade rest and waited.

He stood finally, brushing past her. He was several steps down the hall before he paused long enough for her to realize she was meant to follow. He leads her down to the Cargo hold. Several new crates were marked as foodstuffs, so at least they wouldn’t starve. He ignored these and moved to some of the crates that were there before she and Garrus joined him.

“Another Spectre, an Asari, did a mission with Nihlus and myself. She left a set of armor that had sensor damage.” He explained, finding the crate with what he was looking for and shoving it towards her.

Shepard fished out the chest plate. If the armor was custom fit this Asari had been a good deal taller than her, and a lot more shapely. to the point that it would not properly fit Shepard. She glanced at Saren in time to see him roll his eyes.

“Fix your armor as best you can, make Vakarian help.” He held up a claw and gave her a pointed glare when she was about to protest that she did not need help. “Focus on thermal, anything else is secondary, but I would rather not explain why I let you freeze to death on Noveira.” With that, he brushed past her and headed up the stairs.

“How long do I have?” She yelled her question, carrying the pieces she would need towards the workbench.  
He paused at the stairs, turning to consider her “We will be on Noveira in 16 hours.” He responded curtly before heading up the stairs.

It hadn’t even been a full minute before Garrus came barreling down. “Spirits, Noveira really? It's COLD there.” He yanked the Asari breastplate from Shepard's hands and shooed her away from the workbench.

“I didn’t think he would punish himself in his effort to beat us into Spectres.” He grumbled as he started to work.

Shepard busied herself with collecting her damaged armor. “What do you mean? What's wrong with the cold?”

“Turians don’t like the cold Shepard.” He responded dryly and shooting her a glare that sent her into a fit of giggles.

“Don’t be a baby Vakarian.” She shot back, earning a growl in return.  
  
Shepard answered it with a laugh.

\---

Between Shepard and Garrus, (Mostly Garrus) they managed to get the heating unit in her armor working, as well as her shields. It wasn’t a perfect fix but it was good enough for what they needed she had a new set waiting for her at the Spectre docks for them to pick up the next time they passed through the Citadel.

Everything goes fairly smoothly Saren doesn't even have to flaunt his specter status to allow them to dock in Port Hanshan. He transfers several files to data pads before he seeks out his trainees.

They were both waiting for him in the mess and Saren gave them a short nod of approval, they were both suited up and ready for his instructions. Letting out a sigh he crossed his arms over his chest. Giving both the sniper and the vanguard a hard look.

“We are here for two reasons, and we may very well be here several days. I have acquired rooms at a hotel within the port.” He waited for them both to nod before He continued, unable to keep the growl from his voice.

“There may be a lead on a case I have been following for a long time, I have uploaded a selection of files for both of you to go over. The other reason pertains to more personal business, we depart in ten minutes.”

He dismissed them, watching them scurry to pack what they would need to comfortably operate from the hotel room rather than the ship.

Saren was already packed and waited for them in the cockpit. He took the moment to go over his personal files once more, Benezia was up to something on peak 15 using his money. The Matriarch had been a trusted advisor for many years, Saren trusted her to invest his money in research and development that would interest and benefit him.

She had always been very forthcoming with her investments but whatever was going on at peak 15 she remained tight-lipped about. With the new information on this case though… it gave him the perfect opportunity to check in on her.

Before he can fall into a proper sulk he hears two pairs of footsteps behind him. Straightening he offered the pair a grunt before leading them out of the ship and through the port.

\---

Judging from the stiff way Saren moved and Garrus less subtle whining Turians, in fact, did not like the cold. Even if inside the building it was more of a comfortable cool rather than a proper cold. Shepard couldn’t help the part of her that wanted to see her pair of space raptors trouncing threw the actual cold of outside.

If they weren't here on business she might even entertain the idea of a snowball fight. Thought… on second thought a snowball fight with Saren was just asking to get filled with Cryo rounds.

This looked to be shaping up to be a mission with a disturbing lack of gunfire however, Saren had marched them across the port and into the hotel, where they had a suite with a pair of rooms, each with one bed. He informed them that if they were against sharing they could pay for their own room but after a quick glance at the price of this place both Shepard and Garrus decided that sharing was acceptable.

As was the very promising couch that Shepard had currently wedged herself in the corner of.

The hotel room itself was warmer and the boys seemed more comfortable. Well, as comfortable as they could be given the subject matter of what they were reading.

Sarens case, hunting down a murderer that has been at large for nearly two years. Normally it would not be a job for C-Sec but bodies had been found across the Galaxy, From the Citadel to Omega.

This… bastard liked to make it very clear that these were his bodies.

He killed in threes, always humans or Asari. Most of the women had been prostitutes of some variety. They were savaged, clawed, bitten, bruised, the pictures were enough to make Shepard sick as she read through the case-files.

  
Judging from the disgusted growl coming from Garrus and Saren’s claws ripping into the arm of his chair she wasn’t the only one sickened by this murderer. But still… this didn’t seem like the kind of thing Saren would go after normally.

“I agree that this guy is a sick bastard and needs to be taken down… But is this really specter business? Just one murderer?”

Saren let out a sigh that was more of a growl and Shepard waited, his claws digging into the chair once more. “Because it spans over so many systems yes… The Council has a vested interest in stopping this… monster.”

“It's not the normal kind of mission you go on though. You like nice clean kill everything then blow it up missions.” Saren growled at her again and Shepard feels she might have overstepped. She didn’t back down though, her mentor did have a preference for blowing things up.

“He’s a Turian.” Garrus finally spoke. Setting the datapad down. Saren took a deep breath before giving a short nod.

“It… disgusts me that one of my own kind would do this.” Saren waved his hand to encompass the data pads.

Shepard opened her mouth to ask if turians were supposed to be above this kind of violence but Garrus interrupted again defusing some of the tension that had been growing in the room. “It's a cultural thing, Shepard, Turians view sexual violence a lot more strictly than other races, not to say it doesn’t happen but it's generally frowned upon and harshly punished. Even working at C-Sec I’ve never seen girls brutalized like this.”

She gave a nod of understanding, still unsure as to why Saren was so affected by it but by the stiffness in his posture she figured it best to let it drop.

“He has left DNA on all the victims. They are an unregistered male, likely barefaced, born in one of the outer colonies or the Terminus systems. From the way, he mutilates the bodies post-mortem he has some amount of medical training.” Saren spoke coldly, turning back to his own datapad.

“He’s smart enough to get around security measures. He’s either well off or working on a ship with how much he travels.” Garrus added. Saren gave him a nod of approval before the EX C-Sec officer continued. “Not a military ship, they don’t patrol half of these places. I’m thinking trader. Merc would get him too much attention and he clearly likes to keep a low profile.”

Shepard hummed looking over the files again. She wasn’t an investigative genius like Garrus and she wasn’t sure what she could bring to the table other than pointing her gun at the right guy when they caught this bastard.

“So we’re here because he’s attacked in Port Hanshan? Security here is a nightmare, he would have to be a savant when it came to tech to get past it, do we know if he is working alone?” Both gave her a long look and she wasn’t sure if she said something stupid or smart.

“We aren't sure… My contact said there had been attacks, but the board is covering it up, the administrator won’t cooperate unless we really twist his arm.”

“You could shoot him… like in the kneecaps.” She was almost positive that snort was as close to a laugh you could get out of Saren but he shook his head. “I must be rubbing off on you Shepard if you're suggesting we shoot at civilians.”

“No, I’m Suggesting YOU shoot at one civilian, figure if we shoot the one it will cut down on the overall body count and avoid a political incident.” Saren shook his head and stood. Moving towards his room.

“No, Sadly I have too many investments in Noveria to condone a firefight, Change into Civilian clothing we are going to go meet my contact.”

“We?”

Shepard couldn’t think of a time where Saren looked this uncomfortable.

“He has a preference for… Human women, with you asking the questions his tongue may be looser.”

Garrus gasped his mandibles clicking against his chin as he stood as well. “You can’t make her sleep with someone just to get information.” He growled.

Saren turned slowly and glared at Garrus, something must have been said outside of Shepard’s range of hearing because after a moment Garrus ducked his head and looked properly embarrassed. Satisfied Saren turned his gaze to Shepard’s and it softened slightly.

“Spirits… I’m not even going to ask you to flirt with him Shepard, but if you are uncomfortable…” He let the statement hang. It didn’t feel like a threat, more like he was offering her a way out if she really was uncomfortable being eye candy to help get information out of his contract.

“No, it's fine. I might mess everything up, I’m not exactly a social butterfly.” Saren simply snorted and entered his room, letting the door slam behind him.

She waited a moment before heading to her and Garrus’s shared room. The other Turian following close behind her.

“So… what did he say that made you look like a kicked puppy,” Shepard asked, digging out a simple black dress and a pair of leggings from her pack.

“Er, it's kinda hard to translate, sub vocals are more emotions than anything. It still surprises me when he uses them since I’ve gotten used to how he clamps down on the smallest emotions.”

He was fishing out a pair of blue civvies of his own. “Well, then what were the emotions? Come on, it's not fair that I’m only really ever hearing half of what you guys say.”

He hummed, turning his back to her as they both started to strip from their armor. “Well, It was mostly hurt and offense because I accused him of wanting to use you like that. But there was also a… protectiveness… and possessiveness directed at you, but he clamped down on that fairly quickly.”

Slipping into her dress she started to finger comb her shoulder-length red hair. there really wasn’t much she could do about that but she could slap some makeup on her face. “So… Are you saying he likes us to an extent? Or at least likes me?” She asked, digging around in her pack until she found her makeup kit.

Garrus shrugged, closing the last few latches on his jacket. “Maybe, even when he shows emotion he’s still near impossible to read.”

Shepard laughed “Yeah, I suppose that's true.” She commented before heading into the bathroom to try and make her hair and face less of a mess.

\---

It was cold. Not uncomfortably so, they were in the hotel bar after all. But it was still colder than Garrus would have liked. Especially wearing his lighter civvies instead of proper armor. Sarens clothing at least looked warmer, and frankly looked good on the older male.

Not that Garrus looked bad, he thought his suit flattered his waist rather nicely. But they both looked practically ragged compared to Shepard.

Not that she looked much different than she normally did, but the paint she put on her lips and eyes combined with the way her dress hugged her waist and flared out over her hips was enough to make any turians jaw drop.

Judging from the sharp intake of breath next to him, he wasn’t the only turian who thought that either. Garrus chanced a glance at his mentor, but Saren’s expression was carefully schooled into his uncaring scowl.

“Let's go.” Saren's voice may have been just slightly more clipped than normal as he led them from the room.

Now Garrus found himself sitting at the bar, nursing a drink while Shepard and Saren spoke with another turian. A Lorik Qui'in if he remembered correctly. Saren may have been doing most of the talking but the other turian only had eyes for Shepard.

Hands to, that was the third time Qui’in had been bold enough to touch Shepard. The first two times had been simple touches to her hand and arm, this time was a brazen stroke to her shoulder making his interest clear.

Garrus didn’t have to be within hearing range to know that Saren was making his disapproval well known threw his sub-vocals. That was clear from how quickly Qui’in snatched his hand away.

The conversation ended quickly after that Saren practically pulled Shepard away by her upper arm. Garrus followed after, making it into the same elevator as them.  
“Ok… So what was that?” Shepard asked once the doors were closed and the elevator jolted upward.

“He was being lewd,” Saren responded dully, finally releasing his hold on her arm.

“He was answering your questions and telling us how to get the files. Yeah his eyes were on me and he was a little handsy but I didn’t see it as THAT bad.” Shepard countered, crossing her arms. Garrus was starting to think it might have been a better idea to catch the next elevator.

“His sub vocals were anything but polite Shepard. I will not degrade you by repeating them.” Shepard rolled her eyes and Garrus arched his brow plate.

Garrus waited until they were in the hotel room before he prompted them for more information. “So did we learn anything about the murderer?”

Shepard let out a groan and Saren simply picked a portion of the wall to glare at. “All of the Information Lorik has is in his office. In exchange for it, he wants one of us to break in and secure his laptop before the Administrator’s goons find it.” He growled out before his Omni-tool started to beep.

Shepard waited a moment before picking up for him. “Looks like the Administrators dirty and he is looking for proof Lorik happens to have, along with the information about the murders. The board already took care of the bodies and swept it under the rug. What he has is all that's left and he only has that because one of the girls was his secretary.”

Garrus let out a huff of air and crossed his arms. “How long ago did these happen?” He didn’t like the way Shepard frowned before she spoke.

“Almost a week, even in a high-security port like this one he’s probably long gone on any number of ships.” She sighed.

Saren finished reading whatever was on his omni-tool before turning to look at them in a way that he usually reserved for tactical appraisal. It set Garrus on edge.

“Vakarian, I trust you can collect Qui’ins files. The ‘police’ the administrator has searching Synthetic Insights are no better than mercs, and you will be there under specter authority.” He ground out before turning to Shepard.

“I had intended to investigate Peak 15 alone, however, it appears Benezia brought in a significant amount of Asari commandos, and the labs have just gone dark after releasing an emergency SOS.”

He let out a sigh as if it pained him to admit this. If Garrus had to guess it probably did tweak the older males ego a bit. “I would like to go in with another Biotic, Vakarian will come in after collecting the data to provide backup.”

Garrus and Shepard both stood straighter, they could tell from his tone that this was no longer a discussion and had become a mission.

“Suit up, we leave in half an hour.”

 


	4. Chapter 4

“What are we driving into Saren? Besides a blizzard.” Shepard was looking out the tiny window of the borrowed Mako, arms crossed and definitely not sulking.

 

She was met with silence. 

 

She chanced a glance over at her companion, to judge his mood. Yup… still pissed.

 

“Look… if you had let me take that shortcut-”

 

“It was a cliff face, not a shortcut.” 

 

“It could have been a shortcut.”

 

The cockroach of a vehicle slammed to a halt and He turned to glare at her. Shepard was a little proud to note that it held more anger than outright hate, she wasn’t sure when he had stopped hating her quite as much… and she wasn’t about to ask him.

 

“Do you want me to drive again?” She gave him the most sickly sweet smile she could manage, it was met with a darkening of her glare but most of his anger had faded. 

 

“Spirits no. We are here.”  She glanced out the window and it did look like they were at some kind of complex. The doors to the garage were shut. 

 

They climbed out of the Mako, and Shepard repressed a shiver. Even if her suit was mostly repaired it was cold out. She was quick to fall in behind Saren as he worked on the door. This was his personal thing, after all, it might be nothing but from the sound of it, this Asari may be using Saren’s money to fund things that went against the council.

 

If that was the truth it would explain Saren’s dark mood. If she had learned anything during her time with him was that he took council law very seriously. 

 

As soon as the door slid open a firefight started. It was going to be one of those missions, three krogan mercs were nothing compared to a deadly pair of biotics, but Shepard had a bad feeling as they moved deeper into the complex that things were just going to get worse.

 

About a half hour in, a handful of other mercs and some disturbing clues towards what Binary Helix was researching up on peak 15 was when shit really hit the fan. 

 

The clatter of a shifting grate had them both spin and train their weapons on what made the noise. 

 

Shepard screamed, discharging three blasts out of her shotgun until the clip was empty. She was slightly less embarrassed when Saren emptied his pistol into it long after it was clearly dead.

 

She turned to look at Saren, a brief flash of… apprehension? Disgust? crossed his face before he finally pulled his gaze from the horrible spider thing.

 

No.

 

Horrible Giant Spider Cockroach thing.... with tentacle arms.

 

That spit acid.

 

“What… was that.” She finally ground out, not wanting to look at it.”

 

“I… think it was a rachni…” He finally responded. His voice was unsure, almost thoughtful before he fell back into his normal stoicism, it was almost comforting to Shepard, still, neither of them let their guard down.

 

“She has used my money my name, to bring back the rachni…” The forceful way Saren slammed the fresh clip into his pistol spoke volumes about how angry he truly was. Shepard couldn’t blame him. He had trusted this matriarch, he had likely considered her a friend.

 

Saren didn’t look like the type to have many friends, and doing something like this, something that could endanger the galactic community as a whole. It was like this Benezia threw his trust in his face.

 

It made Shepard angry on his behalf. 

 

She wasn’t stupid enough to offer him words of comfort, or even assure him that they would get her. Those went without saying. Instead, she slammed her own clip home and fell in line behind him.

 

“Don’t these types of labs have a fail-safe in case of situations like this?” 

 

She asked as they finished they got the tram running. Well, Saren got the tram running, Shepard kept her back to him and watched for more bugs.

 

“Likely.” He snorted. Shepard gave him a grunt in return. They had been mostly quiet, the mood was dark as they had worked through peek 15, been forced to repair a VI and the landlines before they found themselves fixing the fuel lines to the reactor so that the tram could run. 

 

At least the VI was sure Benezia was still at Rift station.

 

They were greeted by more Rachni, as well as a handful of mercs and security who attacked after one got an omnitool ping from who they could only assume was Benezia. Shepard was almost proud of Saren, he ignored the cowering scientists and only shot at those pointing weapons at him. 

 

He did snarl at one that let out a whimper when he stalked by them. Shepard took the liberty of translating this as “It's better if you evacuate now.” 

 

They didn’t need to be told twice and were more than happy to vacate the general area near the Spectre.

 

More snooping, they found a dead scientist with a code to activate a neuron purge. Saren didn’t even hesitate.

 

Not that Shepard would have hesitated much if given the option to nuke a mountain filled with giant space spiders. The Mira VI gave them 2 minutes to get up the elevator while it prepared the attack. 

 

There were about 30 Rachni between Saren, her and the Elevator. Maybe more, the little green ones were hard to count, and more kept climbing out of the walls. 

 

Shepard moved quickly, wrapping her arms around Sarens waist, his own biotic barrier crackling against hers as she braced for a charge.

 

“Shep-” Saren started what Shepard was sure would be a seething warning that would explain that this was a bad idea. 

 

But before he could get more than the first syllable of her name out She was launching across the room with him. She made it farther than she thought she would, given how heavy he was in full armor. 

 

She fired into one of the Rachni between them and the elevator door and Saren turned to throw warp field behind them. Mira informed them that they had under a minute left once they had finally made it into the Elevator proper. With one of the bugs.

 

Saren slammed the elevator closed as the Rachni charged her, knocking her roughly against the elevator wall and causing her suit sensors to light up. Once they were in relative safety the pair easily disposed of the remaining rachni, the blast from his pistol and the bark from her shotgun helping to drown out the screams of the dying rachni.

 

Even once the elevator came to a halt they took a moment. Saren glaring at the dead rachni and Shepard catching her breath, discreetly trying to check Saren for injury and ignoring the angry beeping from her suit.

 

“Your armor.” He finally spoke, taking long purposeful strides towards their next destination. 

 

She fell in line behind him finally taking stock of her own damage. 

 

Shielding was fine, but the jury-rigged heating had finally given out. She was still warm but it was simply the residual body heat and she could tell she cooling down fast. 

 

“I’ll be fine.” She told him firmly, muting the warnings so he couldn’t hear them. 

 

He stopped and gave her a hard look before continuing on towards the last section of the lab, the tram had yet to return so Benezia was still here with them. He growled and slammed his fist into the elevator.

 

They faced an insane amount of Asari commandos, all the while Saren growled and hissed at the Matriarch, who was standing guard next to a tank holding a huge Rachni. The fight was intense, Shepard had taken a few bad biotic hits and Saren was likely hurting too.

 

Not that it showed as he stood over the dying Matriarch, his foot pressing into her neck. She turned away, she would have given the woman a quick and painless death, inquired about her betrayal. But this was Saren, this was personal and private and Shepard was intruding. 

 

As much as the Spectre sold this as being simply about the abuse of his funds and his title, but as Shepard saw it, it was always about the abuse of his friendship.

 

She heard a dull crack and finally returned her gaze to Saren. The room was cold, not just from the temperature, but Saren was practically frozen as he stared at the last Rachni. The Queen Benezia had called it.

 

She repressed a shiver, the sooner they left the sooner they could return to the warmth of their hotel. Shepard for one intended to have the longest hottest shower she could get away with, not only to warm up but to wash away the bugs and the pain of this mission.

 

Saren was hurting, even if he hid it well. Shepard knew she shouldn’t he wouldn’t thank her, he may even hit her. But that didn’t stop her from coming behind him, bumping her armored shoulder against his in an attempt to snap him back into his normal cranky hateful self.

 

It got her a snarl and a glare at least pulled him out of his mind. “What are you going to do about her?” She questioned gesturing to the Rachni.

 

It sat still, staring at Saren, pressed back as far away from him as her tank allowed. It was like it knew his decision before he vocalized it. 

 

“We kill it.” His voice was dead as he said it, a new level of cold and emotionless that Shepard did not realize he could reach. 

 

“But… She’s the last shouldn’t we ask the council?” there was a slight hum in the back of her mind.

 

He didn’t turn, he didn’t respond as he stepped towards the controls.

 

“Its… Genocide… destroying a race in its entirety. I… I don’t mind killing mercs, terrorists I can even understand that sometimes civilians die… But this.” Shepard took a step towards him, she didn’t realize she had taken a step forward there was an… The hum had grown into something more musical. Telling her to stop him.

 

Her hand touched his back and he stiffened. Shepard didn’t notice, the music was too loud. “This is killing a whole species, killing their culture, their history. Our song will fade and die if you kill us here.” He turned then. Looking at her, his eyes… the look of horror in them was so painful the music faded for a moment.

 

“Saren…” Something's wrong, the music is so loud, Make it stop. She gripped him then, shutting her eyes and all but screaming as the music doubled. tears ran down her face, leaving hot tracks as the music grew louder and louder before there was silence.

 

She came to slowly, her face was pressed against something cold, and she was being held against a hard body. Her breath was hoarse and shaky as she sucked in a breath. Something pressed against the top of her head gently as she took in another breath and coughed.

 

Saren held her for only a moment longer before placing both hands on her shoulders and holding her at arm's length. Shepard was grateful that his hands were still on her, she wasn’t sure if she could deal with standing just yet. From the brief look of worry that crossed his face, he didn’t seem to be ready to let her go either. 

 

“Saren… what happened.” She finally asked. Her voice still pained, She felt a wetness on her lips and after she touched them her fingers came back bloody.

 

He was quite a long moment, his eye searching her face for several long moments. Hesitantly Shepard reached up and touched his cheek, just above the metal implants. “Saren?”

 

“She had you… she gripped your mind and tried to use you to sway me.” His voice was closed, well guarded but the worry flicked across his face once again.

 

“I’m ok… I’m me. She's dead.” Shepard paused turning to face the tank and seeing nothing but a puddle of… ooze. “You killed her, the music is gone.” Shepard was reassuring herself as much as she was telling Saren. “I’m fine.”

 

“You are not” He growled, his hand tightening so much that she could feel it through her armor. “Spirits Jane, we are both exhausted, the neuron purge damaged life support and the Tram can’t make it back in the blizzard.” 

 

Shepard stepped back, breaking his hold. “And I can not fix the heating in your suit”  That was when she really started to notice the cold. She couldn’t hold back a shiver. It wasn’t too bad yet, but it was noticeable. 

 

“How long until…” Until the life support let her freeze until the blizzard cleared until they could get a message out to Garrus.

 

He snorted and gave her a shrug, she shouldn’t have expected more of an answer. He looked at her a long moment before turning and heading down the stairs and out of the room filled with dead rachni and asari.

 

“Long enough.” Was his only response. 


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A LITTLE bit of NSFW in this one... ;)

Thirty minutes. It's been thirty minutes since Saren left her in this cold corner of a small room, claiming it would stay warmer than the rest of the complex. Shepard had survival training to, it made sense.

But it wasn’t that much warmer if the blue-lipped and shivering Commander Shepard was anything to go by.

Another fierce shiver shook her body, it was the thirty-four-minute mark, Shepard was beginning to think Saren had left her when the door slid open. Years or muscle memory and training leveled her pistol at Saren, her aim holding solid until she registered who it was.

Saren, with an armful of thermal blankets. She had never been so happy to see the crotchety turian.

“Get up, strip.” She stared at him blankly for a moment. A moment too long because he had dropped the blankets and was pulling her to her feet before her mind caught up with her.

“Oh yeah… not like it's helping much right now anyway.” She muttered. Her fingers were stiff and it was difficult hitting the latches for her armor. Soon a pair of hands with three long talons were helping her. Stripping her of armor with a practiced movement.

He had her down to her undersuit and wrapped in a thermal blanket in under a minute. It was warmer, but only just. She wouldn’t complain though, instead, she let her eyes drift shut as she tried to focus on the warmth from the blanket.

The hiss and click of armor being removed caused her eyes to snap open once more.

Saren was purposely removing his armor down to his own undersuit. “S-Saren, There's no point in both of us freezing.” His steely glare left no room for argument. Shepard remained silent, watching as he took the remaining blankets, folding them to protect them from the cold floor and walls.

“Come here, Shepard.” He finally ordered after he situated himself next to her.

Shepard watched him, moving slowly. He kept his expression fairly open and gave her no outward signs of discomfort as she slid up next to him until she was pressed against his side. She couldn’t but let out a sigh as his heat started to sink into her.

He pulled her into his lap and she froze as he wrapped his arms around her. If she wasn’t half frozen she would have pulled away. Or at least said something. Instead, she pressed against his warmth. He was sharp and hard in most places but the warmth almost made up for it, if only she could forget she was sitting in the lap of Saren Arterius, sure it was purely for survival but it was an intimacy she had not expected from him.

“Saren you don’t have to...” She started, his arms pulling her closer and his growl silenced her.

“I will not let you die from something as preventable as cold. You are… tolerable.” He growled out.

“For a human?” She leaned back far enough to look at his face.

“...No.” He looked away but she saw that he was somewhat uncomfortable. He was easier to read this close and Shepard found herself studying his face.

“For a trainee?” There was a flick of emotion again, uncomfortable, but also an odd softness.

“...Yes. You… and Vakarian have potential.” It sounded like it was almost painful for him to admit the compliment, but she could tell he meant it, She flushed slightly and gave him a smile that caused his mandibles to flutter.

“Jane… go to sleep, The VI will tell us when the storm passes.” He turned to look at her again, one hand moving to stroke her cheek before tugging her back against his chest and into his warmth.

She pressed her face into the warmth of his neck and let out a soft sigh. He stiffened and Shepard nearly pulled away before he relaxed slightly. He was warm and smelled like gun oil and biotics. She probably should not feel so safe in the arms of a known human hater and killer.

She smiled against his neck and felt him twitch. “Thank you, Saren.” She muttered, letting his warmth and the exhaustion lull her to sleep.

\---

There was no sleep for Saren. Part of it was paranoia, despite knowing he and Shepard had killed or disposed of every living thing within the area they were not in a place he considered safe enough to sleep. Spirits it took him nearly a week to sleep comfortably on his own ship after he took on his pair of trainees.

That was another part of the problem. Seeing Shepard under the Rachni’s control, crying and screaming as she fought it had made some things painfully clear. She had collapsed and spasmed when he sent the bug to its death… he held her tightly against his chest, checking her vitals and suit while he prayed he did not kill her along with the Rachni. He liked her, and Vakarian. Given time they would make good specters, but he was growing to like and respect them as people.

Saren was not so blind to not notice his growing attraction to them, trust and respect were more attractive to Saren than any form. Having one of these people he had grown to respect and trust over the last months pressed against his chest, breathing softly on his neck, was quite the exercise in willpower.

Shepard was so soft, and small, but she was a biotic juggernaut, charging into battle and ripping her foe’s apart with biotics and shotgun. It was beautiful to Saren. She hummed and nuzzled closer to him and he froze as she burrowed into his sensitive neck.

He took a moment to mentally go over the firing algorithms of his ship until he got his body under control. Having her so close, smelling so good… really he would just have to tilt his head forward slightly to be able to taste her.

Firing algorithms. Meetings with the Council.

She shifted again, her heart rate increased, she was awake. Spirits her hands were on his waist.

“Shepard.”

“Mmmhm.”

“Jane.”

“Yeah, Saren?” Her voice wasn’t fully awake but she was getting there.

“Your hands- Spirits don’t squeeze!” His voice must have changed because suddenly she was very awake and pulling away from him.

“Did I hurt you?” She was worried, her hands hovering, afraid to touch him again but clearly looking for injury.

“No… It did not hurt.” He was desperately thinking of anything in hopes of willing his plates to stop shifting. The fact that Shepard was squirming against him, making herself comfortable against his chest once more didn’t help.

“So It didn’t hurt?” Hands, anywhere but there. It should feel strange, they were too small, too many fingers and ran slightly cooler than himself. He must have grunted some response because she was looking at him like she would a puzzle.

She flexed her hands again he must not have bit back that groan well enough because understanding dawned on her face and she pulled away, she moved as if she intended to slide off of him completely so he put an end to that. They needed each other's warmth after all… And he may be a bit selfish.

“I’m sorry! I didn’t realize I was… groping you.” Her face was red, a deeper flush then her battle high or when she was angry, it ran down her cheeks and neck, she looked utterly embarrassed and it startled a laugh out of him.

“It's fine.” She was still leaning as far from him as she could and he missed her closeness, he couldn’t stop himself from tugging her closer until she was resting against his chest. once more.

“Are you… ok?” The way she said it Saren was sure that she wasn’t asking about the touch. He thought about the answer a long time, letting his hand stroke down her back. By the time he answered he was sure that she wasn’t expecting him to.

“I will be...I was sure I lost you today… You are no longer an acceptable loss.” She pulled back again and his arms tightened, but both of her hands were on his face, shifting his face so he had to look her in the eye. She was blushing again, but this time it was a lighter pink, and there was a sparkle in her eye that stopped him from looking away.

“Saren Arterius, Are you saying you like me?” Her voice was soft, a hint of wonder and hope inside it.

He nodded very slowly and she smiled. Then her lips were on him, soft and warm and pressed to his lip plates far too briefly before she was snuggling back against his neck. “I like you to Saren.”

He let out a soft purr and let himself nuzzle against his neck briefly, taking in her scent. Her hands slid down to his waist again, resting there softly causing him to let out a soft growl.

“Jane… That's dangerous.” He warned softly. Spirits he didn’t want her to stop.

“Why?”

“Because… I like you.” She stilled for a moment, then let out a little sound of understanding.

Then stroked her hands down to his hips firmly causing him to let out a groan and his plates to shift dangerously.

“That's ok, cause I like you to…” Spirits her tongue was so soft as it felt so good pressing behind his mandible.

He moved to her neck again, and she threw her head back, offering herself to him. He let out a possessive growl as he tasted her skin. He nipped at her undersuit as his hand grips her waist. He pulled back to press his forehead to hers. “We shouldn’t, It will make things complicated.”

“It is not complicated, it's two people who like each other, blowing off steam and passing the time.” she returned the pressure of his forehead as she spoke and her words startled him to laugh.

“That… is a very turian mindset.”

“Well, maybe you guys have the right idea.” She chuckled, tilting her head to press her lips to his.

He purred and moved his lip plates against hers he has been with enough Asari to be half decent at this. Saren gave up any pretense of keeping his plates closed and let his tongue brush against her lips causing her to gasp and grind against him before leaning back once more, a searching look in her eyes as they roamed his face before a grin broke out across it.

“Besides, isn’t this body heat thing supposed to work better Skin to skin? Well, Plate to skin in our case?” She teased.

Saren growled, shifting his arms to hold her as he turned. In a moment she was under him, he buried a hand in her soft red hair as he moved to her neck again. He grazed his teeth over her pulse, causing her to gasp and moan, sending a spike of heat through him as he slipped free of his plates.

\---

Saren was above her, arms caging her in, and his teeth at her neck. Shepard should be terrified, but the sounds she made were anything but. She wanted him to the point she needed him, and judging by the familiar bulge he just ground against her the feeling was mutual.

“This is dangerous Jane,” he whispered it against her neck, tugging at her undersuit with his teeth, his claws dragging down her ribs.

“I trust you.” He all but groaned as he pressed against her again. her fingers moved to tug at his undersuit, there were too many layers between them, she wanted to feel him, to see him.

They were both startled by the sudden rush of cold, their rolling and shifting having dislodged the thermal blankets. He tucked them around her again, shifting to lay beside her and pull her against him.

“This is not the best place or situation for this.” He finally sighed, letting his arms wrap around her waist, she could still feel his hardness pressed against her hip.

“What if you don’t want to do this later?” She couldn’t stop herself from asking. She still wanted this, hell she’s read enough Fornax to know she would be fairly interested in what was currently pressed against her.

But she wanted this closeness… It felt important, a new level of understanding and trust. He liked her… Saren may hate what humanity stands for, but he liked her. With Alliance regulations, it was easy to keep everyone at arm's length but this whole specter thing, working with aliens. It was hard not to get close to them.

“Jane.” His voice was firm like he had said it more than once, one talon forced her chin to tilt so she could look him in the eyes, the glowing near impossible to read eyes, that were expressing… fondness? It was more than just the hints of lust that still remained.

“I have wanted you, for some time now. I will want you in the safety of the hotel after I am sure you are unhurt as much as I want you now.” He pressed his forehead to hers once more, she should look it up, or ask Garrus, but she was sure it was some turian form of intimacy.

“...whether or not you still want me… or this is some leftover effect from the rachni.” Oh. Oh, he wanted her, she could feel how badly, from the way he held her, buried his face against her neck, stroked her hair and side as if he was afraid he might break her. Maybe he was, afraid to scare her or chase her away.

“I will… I’ve never been with an alien before, but from what I can feel I’m pretty sure we can make them fit” She kissed him again and he returned it, slowly and softly.

“Not even an asari?” His mandibles flicked and his voice had a slight warmth to it in a tone she recognized as teasing. To anyone else, he would look as cold as ever… but somewhere along the lines, Shepard had learned to read him.

“Not even an asari.”


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ;) NSFW
> 
> I adore feedback, it gives me power. One more chapter to go through before I can start posting new writing!

Garrus never considered himself trigger happy. But these cloaca sucking mercs that were pretending to be cops deserved a bullet. Or six. It was almost sad how easily he cut through them. Though considering the worst they likely had to deal with were crazed scientists or pushy businessman it's probably been a while since any of them had faced someone who can actually handle a gun. 

While he download the information on the murders, and Qui’in’s data about the Administrators extortion his omnitool pinged. After a quick glance to ensure that he was still alone he opened it. 

It was from Saren.

It was short and got to the point, much like the other turian spoke. Garrus suppose he should be happy that they didn’t need backup, and that they had taken care of the Asari. But they had to wait out the blizzard that was rolling in.

He shouldn’t worry, Spirits, it was Saren and Shepard. He should be surprised that Peak 15 wasn’t a smoking crater. 

A quick check of the weather, at least the blizzard should calm down enough in a few hours for the trams to run. The garage would likely not be terribly happy about them leaving a Mako out there but Saren will likely waive off any complaints.

The file finished its download and Garrus tucked the OSD into his suit. As he exited the room he was faced with another handful of guards lead by the biotic blonde had sneered at them when they docked.

Nothing was ever going to be easy.

\---

They didn’t go farther than a few more intimate touches and a handful of kisses and nuzzles before the VI informed them that the Tram was en-route to the station now that the blizzard had cleared.

Shepard was not terribly willing to or thrilled to leave the warmth of Sarens hold but they had managed. The Tram was blessedly warm, but that didn’t stop Shepard and Saren from standing a bit closer to each other then they would normally.

“I can’t wait for a warm shower back at the room, how long are we staying here?” Shepard sighed.

Saren hummed, as he checked his omnitool. “Vakarian collected the information, I would like to take a day to review it. He was also approached by someone from internal affairs who wants to force Qui’in to testify.” 

She gave a small nod and grinned. “So when do I get to run a solo mission like Garrus.” She pouted. “Or do you not trust the inferior human to run by herself yet.”

Saren let out a slightly amused grunt. “When an opportunity presents itself. This one was unacceptable, I did not wish to leave you alone where Lorik could pursue you.”

She chuckled at that. “Mmh, not interested, I have better opportunities.” She gave him a lingering sidelong look that he responded to with a deep growl. 

Before it could progress further the Tram came to a halt. He kept her close to him and under his tactical cloak as they moved through the port and towards the hotel, only deactivating it once they were in the elevator. 

 

“Why have you never used that in battle?” 

“No need to while working with you too, it's easier to brute force most things.” He snorted. 

Garrus had them in his cross-hairs as they entered the room but quickly lowered his weapon. “Spirits, I was wondering if you’d left me here as some kind of test.” He sighed, stepping forward to greet them.

His brow ridge arched and his eyes widened as he glanced between the pair. but he didn’t say anything about whatever it was he had noticed. “Are you both alright? those look like new burns and Shepard looks a bit blue.”

Saren grunted, all but pushing her into a chair and running his omnitool over her. She noticed he paid close attention to her head with the scan. He looked over the scans a few moments before his mandibles flicked into the briefest of smiles. 

“She is fine, body temperature is rising, brain scans normal.” He gave her an almost hot look before he shuffled it behind his normal mask.

“Garrus.” She glanced at Garrus, he was flabbergasted at the sound of his name from their mentor. 

He shook it off quickly and gave Saren a questioning look. “Yes, Saren?”

“Go find food for the three of us, I’m sure you have had an eventful day as well, we will debrief after dinner.” Shepard knew something else was being said, she could tell by the searching look Garrus gave her, she offered him a smile and he finally nodded and took the credit chit Saren was holding out for him.

As soon as he was through the door Shepard stood, leaning into Saren’s space. “I told you I was myself, when did you take those scans you compared them to?”

He had her out of her armor and was tugging her to the bathroom before he answered. “I scan both of you periodically so I can monitor any changes.” She was just in her undersuit now as his gloved talons brushed down her sides.

Saren was still in full armor and Shepard was having none of that, her hands moved to seek out the latches with varied success. Chuckling he waved her hands away and started undressing.

She slid out of her undersuit as she watched him. His talons paused at his grieves as she stepped back into the shower, flashing him a coy smile that caused him to double his efforts.

He was gorgeous, he may be more than a decade her senior but he was muscle, and pale skin covered with white plates. with black spurs and claws. Even naked he looked the dangerous predator, especially the way he stalked towards her, the shot of heat that it sent to her core probably said something about her mental health.

He came to a halt inches away from her, leaning down to brush his forehead to hers. “Do you want this Jane… I am not a human.” He still spat the word, but it was almost funny when it followed the warmth he used with her name. 

Her fingers itched to touch him and she saw no reason to deny them. his plates were rough under her fingertips and had just enough give that she could feel the hard muscles underneath, the little gaps of hide between them were soft and caused Saren’s breath to hitch.

“I don’t want a human.” her hands gripped his cowl, pulling him down enough for her to press his lip plates to her mouth. One of his large hands gripped her waist as he backed her up against the wall. His free hand moved to the controls, and the shower started to pelt them with water that was almost too hot.

It was hot enough to cause her to gasp and then his tongue was in her mouth. Wrapping around her tongue, stroking the roof of her mouth, her teeth, it was enough to make her moan. Shepard was anything but Idle, one hand moved up the side of his neck, careful of his amp ports as she pulled him into a deeper kiss, sucking on his tongue.

Maker that sound. It was more groan then growl and it caused his hips to jerk into hers.

Her free hand gripped his waist as he finally broke their kiss, dragging that long tongue down her neck to her clavicle. She nearly shivered at the feeling of his bare claws tracing up her sides, before cupping her breasts. 

“I never really enjoyed these on Asari… but yours are a much more reasonable size.” He slowly circled a claw around one dusky colored nipple and his mandibles fluttered against her neck. her body tensed the closer he got to her, finally, she let out a whimpering moan as the claw finally brushed over the peaked flesh. 

She felt him grin against her neck, teeth grazing her skin as he repeated the process with the other nipple, before pinching both of them causing to throw her head back in a moan that ended with a hiss as she banged her head against the tile. 

He pulled back to watch her, his fingers still working her breasts, tweaking a nipple every so often to draw a whimper or soft moan from her lips. “So sensitive…” He chuckled, leaning forward to lick her lips before letting his hands trail downward, just shy of where she desperately needed him to touch her.

“Saren.” She whined. These soft touches and teasing strokes were not what she had expected from this man, but it set her body on fire with need.

Saren chuckled again, his hands moving to cup her rear and lift her up into the water stream, leaving her gasping as he ground his hips against her.

They were slow motions, and she felt his plates shifting against her until he slipped out fully, the weight of it resting against her lower belly. She leaned back against the wall so she could look down at it.

It was slick and blue, the head was tapered, and it was thicker than any male shes had. ridges were placed down the length until it nearly doubled in thickness at the base. “Can I?” Her fingers hovered near it, she could almost feel the heat from it.

“Yes.” His voice was soft and filled with want, he moved to her neck again, nipping at her gently. 

He groaned and bucked into her touch as Shepard wrapped her fingers around him. He was wet and not just from the water, her fingers slid easily over him, the texture, the ribs, it made her core throb at the idea of having her inside her.

“Fuck Saren, your big.” Another chuckle. against her neck and a nip that was hard enough to leave a mark and cause her to gasp. 

“Good to know Turians are better than humans in this aspect as well.” There was a hint of teasing in his voice, but it was nearly masked by his smugness. 

Shepard pouted, leaning forward so nip and suck at his neck in retaliation. One talon traced over her core and she ground her dull teeth into his tough hide. “Your so soft Shepard, so wet.” A Knuckle dipped inside of her folds and they both groaned. 

one of those deadly talons traced over her clit and it throbbed as she clung to him. another finger dipped inside her and she let out a breathy gasp as it pressed into her, rubbing against her insides.

“Spirits, you're so tight, and you grip me. Will I even fit inside you?” he pumped his finger in and out of her a few times leaving her writhing against him. 

“Yeah… Yeah, I’ll stretch… just go slow.” She gasped and moaned, his finger worked inside her a few more moments before removed it, hooking one of her legs over his hip and rubbing his member against her entrance.

“Saren… Please.” Shepard wasn’t one to beg, but she needed him inside her yesterday. Her hands gripped his cowl, pulling him down into a kiss. He slid the first few inches into her and they both gasped against the others mouth.

He let out a breathy sigh of “Spirits” before slowly sliding into her. The stretching was just shy of uncomfortable, but the way he filled her, the way the ribs stroked her insides left her nearly a mess. 

He rested his forehead to hers, breathing hard as he hilted. “Jane… You're so tight.” His fingers brushed her sides, stroked her nipples and grazing over her clit while he waited for her to adjust.

She returned the touches, finding a sensitive area under his fringe, and tracing the underside of his jaw. After a few long moments, she rolled her hips against him causing them both to groan.

He started with slow, shallow thrusts that left her panting and digging her fingers into his shoulders. His sounds were quite but with his face pressed up under her ear she heard every little groan, keen and moan as he moved in her, they had barely started but she felt herself already approaching her peak. 

“Sar- Saren.” She cried out, burying her face against his shoulder. Her body tightened and her walls fluttered around him as she came, it wasn’t long until he let out a strangled groan, his teeth pressing against her neck as he followed her.

They simply held each other for a few moments, enjoying their afterglow before they started to pull apart. He nuzzled against her neck before pressing his forehead to hers once more, one hand cupping her cheek, glowing blue eyes searching hers. After a moment she cupped his face in return, giving him a smile. “I think I’m ruined for human males… you were right, you definitely have them beat in this aspect.” 

His mandibles flared slightly as he grinned. “I’ll be happy to give you another demonstration if you ever forget.” His voice was a near purr as he dipped down to kiss her again.

“I didn’t think Turians kissed, but you're pretty amazing at it.”

“We don’t, Asari have their uses, but I suppose I can see how human females are also gaining popularity.”

“Next time maybe I’ll show you another reason humans are pretty popular.” She grinned, stepping back into the full shower spray.

\---

Garrus took a bit longer than needed to find food. He didn’t want to come back when they were in the middle of… things. He thought he had misheard the sub-vocals coming from his mentor, directed at Shepard. But Shepard had seemed more at ease than ever when they had come back from peak 15.

She was a big girl, she could stand up for herself. 

Spirits if he hurt her Garrus would kill him. Or at least try. But there had been a new air of respect directed at both of them coming from Saren.

Something happened up there, and it was eating at him. 

Forty-five minutes and he found himself standing outside the hotel room door. He held a popular turian stew for Saren and himself, and some Human noodle loaf for Shepard. Steeling himself for whatever he might See, Hear, or Smell he stepped through the door.

And into a painfully normal setting. Well, normal for A specter and a pair of trainees. 

Saren was going over the data he recovered earlier, and Shepard was on the floor, taking apart her shotgun. The only hint that anything had happened was the faint hint of turian musk and a musky floral scent he smelled enough times at C-sec to identify as human arousal. 

It was a painful reminder of how long it had been since he blew off some steam of his own. He must have let out a slightly jealous subvocal because Saren gave an amused snort.

At least he seemed more open and relaxed then he has been since he took Jane and him in.

Shepard looked… relaxed and unhurt. Even if she was moving a bit more carefully then she normally would.

“I have Soup for us and Noodle loaf… Lasagna? For Shepard.” He held up the offered containers Saren gave an approving nod and Shepard about squealed for her own food.

“We will go over out missions and discuss our next plan of action as we eat.” Saren finally spoke, setting down his data-pad and leaning forward. 

Garrus nodded, handing out the food and taking his seat. 

He would satisfy his curiosity about Shepard and Saren later. Asking Saren was out of the question. The worst Shepard would do was punch him.

\---

“Did you really ah… blow off steam… With our mentor?” Garrus had waited until they had retired to their shared room for the night. Shepard paused in her packing, they were scheduled to leave early the next morning and they both wanted to be ready to book it if Saren decided to leave even earlier.

“How… did you know?” She touched her neck and gave her body a quick once over, looking for visual evidence. 

“Smell, his scent is still on you, faintly.” He huffed, crossing his arms. After a moment his mandibles spread into a wide grin. “And you just confirmed it,” Garrus added.

A curse his translator didn’t catch Shepard rolled her neck and put on her ‘commander’ face. “I’ve read enough of the codex to know Turians are a lot more casual about sex than Humans, so why the interrogation?”

Garrus tilted his head and thought a moment. Shepard was… very turian in some aspects he shouldn’t be surprised that this was another one of those instances. It wasn’t that Shepard was human, though he was surprised that Saren didn’t seem to care about that either, but it was Shepard… He had stopped thinking of her as a ‘human’ a long time ago.

She didn’t appear hurt, but that knowledge didn’t diminish his twinge of protectiveness… and maybe a hint of… something.

“Is it because I’m human?” She startled him… Garrus had been quite too long, staring through her as he thought. 

“Spirits no Shepard. It's not that… I just…” Garrus tried to backpedal, but a sense of dread took over when Shepard’s commander face broke into a sly grin. 

“Are you Jealous?” She took a few steps forward towards him.

“Ah… No. I’m just… I don’t want you to get hurt!” He responded Backing up to keep some distance between them.

This seemed to surprise Shepard. After a few moments, her grinned softened into a smile and she stepped forward, reaching up and patting his cheek.

“Thanks, Garrus… That's sweet.” Her hand lingered and Garrus missed it when it was gone. He pushed away from the odd warm feelings her touch stirred up and grinned back.

“I didn’t think Saren would be into soft squishy humans.” He teased, returning to packing. 

“I think he’s similar to me… It's less about gender and species, and more about being able to trust your partner.” She looked up at him and Garrus arched a brow ridge at her. “He seemed to enjoy how soft I was, so don’t knock it unless you’ve tried it Vakarian.” Her voice took on a more heated town as she smirked at him.

If Turians could blush. His Mandibles gave a nervous flutter and he became very interested in repacking his rifle. “Spirits...Too much info Shepard.”

She repressed a giggle and they fell into a comfortable Silence.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last of the pre-written chapters. Next one is half written!
> 
> NSFW again ;)

 

As it was Saren did wake them early, only two hours after they had gone to sleep.

“Get up, we are going to Omega. Now!” His voice was firm and startled them both awake and grabbing for their weapons before his words registered.

“Omega…?” Shepard muttered, slipping out of bed and looking to Saren. he was already leaving, full armor and pack over a shoulder.

“Meet me on the ship in ten minutes, I’ll acquire your armor.” With that, he was out of the suit.

Shepard rushed back to the room, Garrus was already halfway into his armor. “Do you know what's going on?” He questioned as soon as she was back.

Shepard shook her head, slipping into her damaged armor. “No idea, something big he sounded almost as upset as he was when we left the Citadel.”

They were dressed and jogging down the docks with 3 minutes to spare, for once they were on the ship before Saren, they went about unpacking their things into there room, Shepard was in the process of changing into Civvies, opting for slacks and a hoodie rather than her near-useless armor.

The ship jolted and started to hum.

A glance at her omnitool told her that they were leaving a full minute sooner than their deadline.

She headed towards the cockpit, Garrus close behind. Sarens things were still in the airlock and the man himself was busy programming their route. The ship VI flashed a warning and on closer inspection, it was clear that Saren was pushing the ship to its limit to get them to their destination sooner.

From the set of his shoulders and the way he was practically attacking the controls, it was clear that speaking would not be a good idea. They waited, he would tell them or he would tell them to leave.

Shepard was about ready to do something stupid, like tap her foot or clear her throat when Saren turned to regard them.

“There's been a new killing in Omega… He works in threes, they have only found one.” He didn’t need to specify they knew he was talking about the turian murderer that has been eluding the Spectre.

“We will be there in twenty-eight hours. Your Armor is in that crate.” He waved a hand at the box next to his baggage.

“Both of you get some rest, Omega will not be pleasant.” He turned back to his controls and Let out a sigh that was nearly a growl. Garrus picked up the crate for Shepard and started heading down the hall.

“Are you going to rest too? You can’t have slept much more than we did.” Shepard asked. Saren was quite a moment before giving a shrug followed by a grunt. It was clearly the only answer she was going to get.

With a sigh, she turned and followed Garrus, curious to see what kind of armor the Spectre had found her.

\---

Shepard really only had a few hours of sleep, Turians slept less than humans but she was sure Garrus slept less than normal, and she wasn’t sure if Saren had slept at all.

She at least had the excuse of playing with her new armor. It was some prototype specialized towards vanguards and Biotics. Briefly, she wondered how Saren had gotten it… but decided it was better not to ask.

Now the three of them were docking in Omega, waiting in the airlock fully armored and armed. “Watch yourselves. Humans aren't particularly welcome here, and Omega is outside of council law, and recognizes no laws.”

The disdain for the place in Sarens voice was enough to put both on edge.

“I heard stories, In C-Sec a lot of crime rings lead back here… where we couldn’t touch them.” Garrus all but growled, earning a nod from Saren. A batarian was waiting for them at the Docks, holding his assault rifle loosely but all four of his eyes were sharp and trained on Saren.

“I will see her after I look at the body.” Saren hissed before the other male could speak.

“She doesn't like to be kept waiting Spectre, almost as much as she doesn't like you.” The batarian growled, there was a moment where Shepard thought this would end in bloodshed. The Batarian gripped his gun and Saren’s hands flexed.

“The bodies are undisturbed, make it quick.” The Batarian sent the directions to Saren’s Omni tool before storming away.

“He said bodies, I thought there was only one.” Garrus finally spoke once the Batarian was out of hearing.

Saren grunted and set their pace as a near Jog.

There were two, both human.

One was much fresher than the other, maybe less than a 3 hours old.

“I don’t suppose anyone watched the crime scene to see who dropped the second body?” Shepard grumbled, squatting by the newer one.

Not a lot of blood, all of this was done post-mortem. And they still had most of their clothing on. It was similar to the way the turian murdered but not quite right.

“these aren't from claws… I don’t think A turian did this.” Garrus responded by looking over the older body.

Saren grunted, running his Omnitool over the bodies before looking at the reading. “They died of a brain hemorrhage… A massive one.” He grumbled.

Shepard stood and Garrus followed suit, waiting as Saren looked over the scans. “A Copycat? Or just someone trying to cover up how they died?” Garrus finally mused to himself Shepard shrugged and Saren grunted.

“It doesn't matter, not our problem.” He sounded disappointed, Shepard didn’t blame him, they had thought they had been close.

“I have to meet someone, I will ping you when we are heading out. Until then you are free.” Saren finally grumbled before turning and storming from the room.

Shepard and Garrus watched him leave before she finally turned back to the other turian. “Did he really just give us shore leave on Omega?”

\---

Afterlife was dark, loud, and smelled vaguely of something dead. Shepard shared a drink with him before deciding to head back to the ship for a nap, he didn’t blame her she had barely slept. She pinged him when she was safely on the ship, teasing him for being a worry wart… whatever that was.

Garrus was starting to wonder if he should join her… but in the state he was in that would probably a bad idea.

He was on a personal mission after all. He really needed to blow off some steam if he was getting jealous over Saren and Shepard. What made it worse was he wasn’t sure who he was jealous of.

Shepard was an amazing woman, full of more fight and fire than many turian women. Her waist odd fringe and slim figure didn’t attract him as much as her personality and the fact that it was Shepard…

But Saren. Saren appealed to a darker part of him. He was powerful and exotic and represented everything Garrus wanted to be. Well, maybe a little more brutal than what Garrus wanted to be. But the decorated council specter that followed his own rules had appeal.

He nearly jumped when the other man joined him at the bar.

“Saren?” He questioned, curiosity in his sub-vocals. Saren grumbled an acknowledgment but didn’t really answer until the bartender had placed a drink in his hand.

“We are going to stay on Omega, and stop whoever this copycat is.” he finally ground out, his sub vocals making it clear how much he didn’t want to.

“I didn’t think anyone could bully you into doing something you didn’t want to.” Garrus couldn’t stop himself, he was about to blame it on the liquor when the Spectre let out a dry laugh.

“Aria has informed me that if I attempt to leave before solving it she will shoot me out of the sky.” He all but hissed, throwing back his drink.

Garrus made a vaguely sympathetic sound and threw back his own. They drank in silence for a time before the Spectre spoke. “Shepard is back on the ship?”

“Yeah, she was tired.”

“You did not sleep much…” Garrus saw it for the question it was and gave a little shrug.  
“Figured I would take the opportunity to blow off some steam but, Omega is kind of a mood killer,” Garrus responded sheepishly.

He was surprised when Saren turned his full attention to him.

“Most of these… people would likely attempt to kill or mug you, I’d rather not explain how I lost a recruit on Omega.” Garrus simply stared… Sarens sub vocals had the barest hint of suggestion.

“Don’t bed someone you can’t trust Vakarian.” He couldn’t feel the specter’s grip on this thigh, but his hand was there, if only for a moment, and the suggestion was there in his sub vocals, there for Garrus to take if he wanted it.

Before he could answer, or even fully process what was happening Saren stood, gave Garrus a pointed look and headed towards the back rooms.

Garrus was up and following him after a handful of heartbeats. Nobody at this awful bar interested him half as much as his mentor and fellow trainee… and if the Spectre was offering.

He was barely through the bathroom door when the other turian had him pinned, Sarens teeth nipping at his neck and his hands squeezing his waist hard enough he felt it through his armor. The needy way the specter ground against it it was Clear that Garrus wasn’t the only one needing stress relief right now.

Garrus threw his head back and let out a moan as the other male attacked his neck, one hand gripping Sarens waist and the other stroking just under his fringe. It earned him a hungry growl and the clanking of armor as Saren ground their hips together.

Spirits, his plates were already half spread. He bit back a keen when Saren started to pull away, but the confusion drained from Garrus’ eyes when the specter pulled him into a stall, locking the door behind them.

Soon enough parts of his armor started to go missing, Garrus didn’t notice at first, not until he felt Sarens bare talons stroking his exposed waist with enough pressure to dimple his hide. He moaned loudly and slipped fully from behind his plates. His own talons starting to tug off strategic pieces of Sarens armor.

Once they were both nearly bare Saren forced their pace to slow, amusing himself by pulling out needy chirps and purrs Garrus didn’t know he could make as Saren ravaged his neck, Long tongue dragging just under his mandibles, and nibbling a path along his jaw until he could bite lightly where it joined his neck.

Garrus couldn’t help but expose more of his neck to the man, clutching his shoulders for dear life as his hips jerked forward into a hardness similar to his own.

“Please… Saren.” He was answered by a soft purr as the other man nuzzled his neck, one claw dragging down his abdomen before it rested just above his groin plates.

“What do you want Garrus?” There was a hint of teasing behind the lust of the man's voice as he hummed against his neck, just the sound of his name in that tone of voice was enough to make Garrus’ member twitch.

From Saren’s chuckling, it had not gone unnoticed.

Garrus couldn’t quite get control of himself long enough to voice what he wanted. Those long talons he had seen strangle and slash were grazing along the opening of his plates and he found himself forgetting the question until the man's hand stopped to squeeze his thigh.

“Saren- Fuck…” Garrus’ breath was already quick and he was painfully hard, from Saren’s heartbeat and tight grip from the other male was in the same place but he still waited.

Taking a breath Garrus nuzzled against the side of his face, tongue tracing the edge of his jaw implants and running the length of his cheek fringe. This pulled a purr from the other male that turned into a heated growl when Garrus hooked one of his legs around Sarens hip and pulled them together.

“If you keep that up…” His sub vocals said the rest, as did the way one of Saran’s hands slid up the back of his leg, pulling it higher onto his hip before he grazed his entrance.

Garrus threw his head back far enough to bang his fringe on the wall, offering himself to the older male.

As he felt the others teeth gripping his neck a finger pressed into him.

Garrus was a panting mess by the time Saran removed his finger and was positioning himself at his entrance.

“Take a breath.”

Garrus did and as he let it out Saren pushed until he was hilted.

Saren was big, even by turian standards, but it didn’t hurt as much as Garrus thought and what little pain there was replaced by the feeling of being full, the others males ridges pressing against him in a way that would have caused Garrus to grind against him if he wasn’t pinned.

Garrus shifted his grip to the other male's waist as he leaned his head against his shoulder.

After it felt like ages Saren started to move, long, slow but forceful thrusts that had Garrus keening his need so loud he was sure he could be heard over the club music outside.

Garrus pressed his teeth into Sarens shoulder, not enough to break the skin but enough to muffle his voice.

Saren groaned, shifted his angle slightly and Saren hit just the right places inside of him to cause Garrus to see white. His pace was speeding up and one of his hands gripped Garrus firmly.

It only took a few pumps until Garrus was cumming hard, he would have collapsed if he wasn’t held up by the other male. It was only a few more pumps until Saren followed him in his own release, burying his own teeth against Garrus’ shoulder to suppress his cry.

A few moments passed before they separated, cleaned up and replaced their armor in companionable silence. Before they left Saren pulled him into a brief embrace, brushing their foreheads.

“Don’t wonder Omega alone, and don’t let Shepard. I will deal with this… issue on Omega.” Saren sighed, he was still upset but not nearly to the extent he was before.

One more brief touch and they separated, exiting the bar Saren gave Garrus a light shove towards the docks.

When Garrus looked back Saren was already headed towards the markets and deeper into Omega.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First of the new chapters, I'll post as I write them but it might slow down a little bit since I posted all of my pre-written stuff.

By the time Garrus made it back to the ship he had a healthy dislike for this hunk of space rock. There were vorcha everywhere and enough mercs wondering around that he hoped Saren’s burn it to the ground method of completing a mission didn’t leave any surviving vid of them crippling the three major groups.

Though there seemed to be some kind of uneasy peace between the rivaling groups at least in the area surrounding Afterlife and the docks.

Shaking his head and walking a bit more carefully than he normally does he boarded the ship and headed towards the shower to clean up.

He didn’t regret it but in hindsight, he wouldn’t have chosen his first time with Saren to be in a sketchy Omega bathroom.

Not that he regretted it and he certainly understood why Shepard was starry-eyed and bowlegged after her encounter with the specter.

Garrus passed Shepard on her way out of the shower and gave a nod and a flared smile to her that caused her to lift a brow and give him a sly smile.

Spirits he was practically purring with how relaxed he felt.

One hot shower later returned to the shared room to find her waiting for him with a knowing smile.

“So. You seem happy. Relaxed even.” She teased.

Garrus chirped and flicked his mandibles in a way that would have told her to mind her own business had she not been human but… he kinda wanted someone to talk to.

Besides, She was human as far as he knew they were monogamous, and well, less open to blowing off steam. He should let her know. She was his friends, after all, maybe even his best friend after these last few months.

“Shepard. You know Turians are more… open about sex and relationships right?”

“Yes Garrus, I did finally get around to reading those codex’s” She gave an exaggerated eye roll.

“Besides, I’m pretty sure your facial expression, when you came back, was an ‘I just got some’ face. I’m not your mom I’m not going to yell at you for boning someone on Omega.” She teased.

He sighed and let out an embarrassed chirp and gave her his equivalent to a nervous smile. “And… if we both ah… knew that person? Intimately?”

She was quite a moment before she shot him a lecherous grin. “You and Saran? Man, I would have loved to see that.”

Garrus relaxed slightly and let out a sigh. “Spirit's Jane, I thought you’d be mad.”

She shook her head and gave him a more friendly smile. “As long as you both consented and enjoyed yourself I’m happy for you.”

They chatted a bit more and prepared for the night cycle. Garrus repeated his orders from Saren that they shouldn’t wonder Omega alone.

\---

It was Half a Galactic Cycle before Shepard grew bored of rest and waiting on the ship and managed to goad Garrus into going out and seeing what Omega had to offer.

The fact that both of them were worried about there Mentor having not yet returned to the ship or having sent them any updates meant she didn’t exactly have to work too hard to get him to agree to wonder the markets.

It went without saying that they both wanted to catch sight of their missing mentor since Saren hadn’t returned to the ship yet.

Not that they were worried about his safety, they both have witnessed his skill over the months and knew he was more than able to handle himself.

But that didn’t stop them from being concerned by his absence.

Besides, the markets of Omega were a sight to see. The little shops and booths were filled with anything you could imagine or want. There were stalls with street food from almost every race and culture that resided on the asteroid.

While the market closer to the nightclub was mostly armor, weapons, and tech, the lower ones were a bustling hubbub of everything. It made Garrus antsy but Shepard seemed to enjoy it.

Moving from booth to booth and looking at the wares. Even getting some kind of human food from a vendor. She called them Street Tacos. He had teased her that they seemed too messy with all the meat falling out to be a proper street food.

She was admiring a kind of Turian scarf when a young Asari came up to her and picked up one that was a light shade of green. “This one would go so much better with your eyes.” She said with a slight hum to her voice that caused Garrus’ mandibles to click tightly to his chin.

Shepard, not caring, or not noticing that the Asari was flirting with her laughed and gave a shrug. “Really? I’ve never been very good with fashion.”

“Well, then How about I help you, we can dress you up into something divine that will have your boyfriend out of his plates at the sight of you.” SHe teased and shot Garrus a look that wasn’t the most friendly.

“Oh, He’s not my boyfriend.” Garrus didn’t expect those words to sting the way they did. But he kept it to himself and bit back the growl he wanted to shoot the Asari when she shot him a smirk.

“But I haven't really gone shopping with someone else in ages. Well, someone who enjoys it” Shepard shot Garrus an apologetic look. He didn’t really mind. But he would be lying to himself if he didn’t say he would have preferred it be over when they had finished looking over the gun and armor booths.

“Shopping with a beautiful woman sounds wonderful miss?” She paused waiting for a name.

“Just Shepard is fine” She responded easily extending a hand.

“I’m Morinth.” The Asari responded, taking the handshake.

\---

It didn’t take Garrus long to decide he didn’t like Morinth.

She was almost too charming, in the way that she made Shepard Laugh and smile. He wanted to growl every time she touched or brushed against Shepard.  
After a half, an hour of this Garrus had to admit that he was Jealous.

He wasn’t so bullheaded that he couldn’t admit that he wanted Shepherd to himself. Though the thought terrified him.

But seeing a near stranger flirting and touching her and Shepard did not seem to mind it lit a dark bit of Jealousy in him. One he knew had no right to be there.

He started to hang back a bit more, ashamed of how he felt over just a few little touches and comments. Instead checking his omnitool to see if there was any news from Saren.

Nothing.

With a sigh, he looked back up to the booth where Shepard and Morinth had been shopping.

Nothing.

Slightly panicked he scanned the nearby booths and market, looking for any sign of them and not picking up anything.

“Shit” He muttered under his breath pulling up Shepard's contact and starting to massage her.

“You friend is in danger.” A melodic voice interrupted him causing him to glance up at another asari who looked like an older version of Morinth.

“What do you mean?”

\---

Saren was getting nowhere with this case and it wasn’t helping his temper in the slightest. The families of the dead had no connection other than having lost girls near the same age.

There had been no new activity at the drop sight, though he still kept checking the camera’s he had placed there.

He didn’t like having nothing.

The fact that this copycat killer was copying HIS case didn’t help in the slightest.

He was just leaving the second victims apartment when he got a series of pings on his omnitool

His mood lightened slightly knowing it could be one of three people messaging him. He would have brought his two proteges along, but he needed time… space to think about what they were to him.

It had taken him so long with Nilus, but now he recognized where things were going and he’d be lying if it didn’t terrify him to have more people he cared about.

Reading the message from Garrus his mood dropped instantly.

“Shepards in danger, She’s with the copycat.”

\---

Garrus knew he was going to be in trouble before they even meet up with Saren. Not that Samara’s imposing presence exactly comforted him. He was used to Saren’s and Shepard's biotics but the Asari made the are around her hum and his hide prickle. It was unnerving.

Though she was practically warm and open compared to Saren when he arrived. The growl and deep thrum of his subvocals told Garrus he was very disappointed, angry, worried, and other emotions but now was not the time.

The fact that he was openly displaying them to the other male was a good sign that he probably wouldn’t space him for this.

“This is the… Person who knows the killer?” He gestured at Samara.

“She is my daughter, I’ve been tracking her since she has left Asari space. I mean to kill her Specter.” Samara spoke, giving Saren a cold look.

“Good, let's find her before I have a reason to kill you as well.” Saren hissed Samara didn’t seem worried about this threat but fell in line behind them.

Saren Tapped a few things on his omnitool popped up and a blip appeared directing them deeper into the market.

“You have a tracker on her?!” A snort was his only reply and Garrus let out a sigh. “Of course you do you probably have one on me as well.”

His comment went ignored as they followed the little blip towards Shepard.

\---

Shepard didn’t trust this asari.

But it took her time to trust anyone. And Morinth was nice enough and it was kinda fun to do girl stuff with another girl. Instead of just Garrus who couldn’t look more bored if he tried.

But They lost Garrus and she was worried.

“Look, I should really find my friend.” She wasn’t even sure how far back they had lost each other.

“That stick in the mud? Oooh alright, here if we cut through this ally we’ll be back at the beginning of the market.

Shepard gave a slow nod before pulling up her omnitool, but before she could start typing out a message to Garrus Morrinth grabbed her hand and tugged her towards the Allyway.

“We can message him when we get there. Let's go!” She called as she started to tug her. Her biotics crackling slightly against Shepards Barrier.

Shepard took a moment to buff them slightly praying the asari didn’t notice.

“I don’t think this is a great idea,” Shepard said trying to pull her hand away from Morinths grip, but the second she was free She turned and his Shepard with a shockwave dead center of her chest. Her barrier broke as she was thrown back against the wall. Shepard let out a hiss as her skull hit the wall.

Before she could get up she felt cold fingers on her temple. “You couldn’t just let this be easy.” She heard her mutter before she felt an indescribable feeling overcome her. It felt like every nerve was on fire and her body convulsed slightly.

She heard someone yell Morninth’s name before everything went dark.

 

 


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait got a job and been doing adult stuff. But here is the next Mostly NSFW chapter~ I'll try not to make you wait a month next time.

It took longer than Garrus would have liked to find them. Weaving through the back allies and walkways of omega. Stepping around and over trash and homeless alike as they worked there way deeper into the asteroid where the blip leads them.

Finally, They turned a corner and there she was.

Back arched, encased in a crackling blue light and mouth open in a silent scream as Morinth focused on Shepard, hands tangled in her red hair.”

It all happened so quickly. Samara yelled, there was a crack of a gun and then Shepard was falling to the ground. Laying still where she hit.

The image of Shepard sprawled and unmoving on the ground terrified him. But it would have to wait.

The alleyway was practically a storm of biotics as Samara locked fields with her daughter neither powerful enough to overthrow the other.

Morinth had a bleeding graze across her face as she glared down her mother. A quick glance to his side showed Garrus that Saren was lining up a second shot with his pistol. Garrus already had his Rifle up. It took him milliseconds to line up the shot and the comfort of the recoil pushing against his shoulder and the loving bark of his rifle echoed through the alleyway.

In an instant Morinth was no more, her body thrown back by the impact and her mother's biotics.

But Shepard was still motionless on the ground.

Garrus slung his rifle to his back and went to her. Saren came to but he passed them, to where Morinth lay motionless.

But Garrus could care less as Samara and his mentor checked to see if she was dead. He picked up and cradled Shepherd to his chest, scanning her with his omni-tool.

“Oh thank the spirits.” He muttered seeing life signs and only very minor injuries from the impact and the fall.

He heard the crunch of boots approaching him and he looked up, the relief showing clearly on his face. “She’s alive, but we should take her to a doctor.”

Saren let out a sigh and a nod. “There’s a clinic in the ward.”

They both looked down towards the end of the alley where Samera was knelt by the still form of her daughter.

“Let's go.”

\---

Shepard woke slowly. Her body felt heavy and slow. Like it was underwater. But It also felt like it was on fire. The way her nerve endings tingle and sparked. Blinking slowly she opened her eyes and nearly screamed.

A tall and lean Salarian was leaning over her and at the sight of her opening her eyes he grinned and turned to someone just out of sight. “See, awake now, perfectly fine. No need for threats or guns.

He said the last part as a parent would scold a naughty child and Shepard managed to turn in time to see both Saren and Garrus visibly relax.

“Shes okay?” Garrus spoke first moving to the edge of the table she laid on.

“I’m fine Garrus. Just a bit of a headache.” Shepard managed to sit up and rub her forehead.

“Can give something for a headache. Other side effects will pass with time. Or assistance of mates.” The Salarian gestured towards Garrus and Saren who looked startled and stoic respectively.

“Other side effects?” Shepard questioned Turning to hang her legs off the side of the table. She stopped from standing fully by the doctor's hand.

“Slowly Shepard. Will likely feel dizzy, and more amorous than normal due to Asari’s attempted embrace.”

It was almost like his mentioning it turned on a switch. Or more likely she was awake enough and finished taking stock of her body that she did just now notice.

Shepard felt like she was on fire. In her few handfuls of years, she couldn’t recall a time she felt so needy. She was glad she was stopped from fully standing because she would have likely fallen to her knees.  
“Um… How long will these side effects last?” She questioned. Now somewhat uncomfortable feeling this way in front of this fast-talking stranger.

“No more than a day cycle. Come back if persists.” He grinned before turning and collecting a pill and some water for her headache.

She took it with shaky hands and looked at her Mentor who was leveling a disappointed glare at her. Frowning she looked at Garrus who mostly just look hurt and embarrassed. They both seemed to be sniffing the air a bit more than normal and she was reminded about Turian’s heightened sense of smell.

Hell, If she smelled half as desperate as she felt it was no wonder they could smell her all the way on the other side of the room.

“Can we… Save the dressing down…” Poor choice of words the idea of the three of them naked was not helping her situation. “Reprimand until we get back to the ship?” She pleaded with Saren. He seemed to consider it before giving a nod. “Garrus help her out the front I will acquire us a skycar.”

  
He gave the Salarian a curt nod before leaving. Garrus approached her slowly, mandibles fluttering as he waited for her to finish her water.

“You two have a good effect on him, much less gun waving than last time.” the doctor chuckled before taking his leave.

With Garrus’ offered arm She managed to walk. Mind you she probably didn’t need it but it was certainly nice to hold on to something as she walked on her shaky legs.

“You scared us. Scared him. Spirits I thought you’d…” Garrus muttered as they waited, causing a spike of guilt to shoot through her burning need.

“I’m aah, not in the best state right now. But I’m Sorry Garrus… I really am.” She gave his arm a squeeze and leaned against him. She loved how big and strong Turians felt. Saren wasn’t lying when he said she would be ruined for them.

And she needed to stop thinking about it and get back to the ship and have a cold shower.

A nice looking skycar pulled up to them and the door opened revealing Saren. With a grunt and a jerk of his head, they quickly loaded up.

The drive was a quiet one. He didn’t need to tell them what they had done wrong, that he was upset with them.  
They both knew they had fucked up.

There was a pause when he parked the skycar at the docks and Saren finally spoke.

“I trust you will not make the same mistake again?” he said with a sigh finally turning back to look at them. “Though foolish, it has finished my mission on this awful rock. I trust you two can manage not to get separated on the way back to the ship. I have to speak with the vile asari who runs this place one last time.”

Giving Saren an affirmative they exited the car. Shepherd felt his eyes on her back until they were out of sight and nearly at the ship.

“I need a cold shower or a good fuck or both. Let's go Garrus.” Shepard groaned and almost chuckled at the startled squawk Garrus let out.

\---

It didn’t take long for Saren to return. Though Shepard was busy standing under near Icy water and didn’t see him arrive the telltale thrum and movement of the ship as it left dock was enough.

She didn’t want to ask for help, ask for him to fuck her brains out. This was her fuck up and she needed to deal with it.

Still, the cold water only helped so much and it didn’t stop Shepard's hands from trailing over her chest and to her loins.

She just barely dipped her fingers between her folds when the door opened and she glanced up to lock eyes with Garrus.

“Aah… Garrus?” She was to be embarrassed but she did pull her fingers away and step from under the showerhead.

“Ahh… er... Shepard. I was… worried, and Just wanted to see if you if you were okay. I’ll um… give you your privacy.” He seemed to be at odds with himself, going from looking anywhere but her to glancing at her wet naked form.

“I’ll ahh. Give you some privacy.” He turned as if to leave and that deep knot of heat and need, made her take a few steps out of the shower and call out to him. “Wait, Garrus… You could… Help.”

He stood ramrod straight and slowly turned to look at her. She caught a hint of blue blush on his neck as he did his best to keep his eyes on her face.

“I… Shepard, your not in your right mind…” He seemed unsure but he wasn’t leaving.

Shepard smiled and ran her hands over her waist and hips. “The doctor said my mates could help me.”

“Spirits Shepard he didn’t know… we aren't…” But Garrus paused as she started to slowly walk towards him.

And managed to slip on thin air.

She was saved from hitting the cold hard floor by a pair of strong familiar arms pulling her to a cool armored chest. She let out a little gasp as the metal of Garrus’ armor made her skin tighten.

“Shepard.” He managed to purr, leaning closer to her. She almost thought he was coming in for a kiss but he paused short, flaring his nostrils.

“I never thought human arousal smelled particularly good until I smelled it on you.” She leaned up slightly lost in his beautiful eyes before lightly pressing her lips to his mandible.

“Please Garrus… I’ve always been shit at getting myself off.” He still seemed at odds with himself but he slowly lowered her to sit on the lone bench in the room before stepping back. She wanted to reach out. To cling to him but instead, she gripped the edge of the bench and bit her lip to stop herself from begging or pleading anymore than she had.

With a deep thrumming purr he started to unlatch his armor, Shepard nearly let out a relieved whimper at the sight of him stripping to his undersuit and setting his armor down on the floor beside them. The burning in her groin was getting hard to ignore and she NEEDED something to relive it.

She hadn’t been lying her hands had never been enough to really get herself off. But the sight of the large damp tent in Garrus’ undersuit left her feeling like he had exactly what she needed.

He knelt before her, leaning forward to press his forehead against hers and let out another purr. “I wonder if you taste as good as you smell Jane.”

His voice was sin and she nearly melted as he guided her to lean back and flat against the bench as his long tongue licked up stray water droplets along her neck and chest. He seemed a little confused by her breasts but his tongue was drawn to the peaked nipples and Shepard's little gasps and moans were encouragement enough for him to nibble and lick at them until they were sensitive and firm.

“I er… saw this in a vid…” He muttered and ducked his head lower, running that long blue tongue over her mound and causing Shepard to forget any teasing remark she might have been about to make about Garrus watching Interspecies porn.

She moaned loudly and arched her back as Garrus dipped his tongue deeper and ran it over her clit.

Garrus did well for someone who claimed to have never been with a human before. Circling and toying with her clit before running her length and just barely dipping into her entrance before repeating the process all over again. He was exploring her and pulling needy cries from her as he went.

She was almost to the point of begging when he finally sank his tongue deep into her opening. Rubbing at her inner walls farther than a human's tongue, or even her own fingers could reach. It only took a few strokes before she was cumming on his mouth with a cry.

“Aah… Garrus…” She moaned. “I need you…”

“I’m here Jane.” He purred nuzzling his way up her body before tentatively pressing his mouth plates to her lips. She moaned at the taste of herself on him, her legs finding his hip spurs and pulling him close until she felt that warm bulge against her core.

He wasn’t nearly as good of a kisser as Saren, but this was sweet and shy. It helped ground her. This wasn’t just sex, this was sex with her best friend. Her fingers trailed up the back of his neck and stroked over the soft skin there before opening her mouth and deepening the kiss.

They let their tongues slowly stroke against each other for a few moments before Garrus pulled back and started to strip out of his undersuit.

He was beautiful. Leaner than Saren but taller and just as muscled. His tan hide and silver plates contrasting beautifully but her eyes were drawn to the long tapered length of blue as soon as it was exposed.

“Are you sure Shepard?” He paused, stroking her cheek.

“Yes, Garrus… You're my best friend… I want this, Do you?” The answer seems obvious but Shepard had enough of her senses left to her to want to hear his consent.

“Spirits yes… I think I have for a while.” He groaned before taking himself in hand and lining up with her entrance.

He wasn’t as thick as Saren, but he was just as long and as he slowly slid deeply into her her back arched and she couldn’t help but sing out his praise as he filled her.  
He glanced up a moment before turning his focus back on her, subharmonics thrumming as he finally hilted in her.

“Ah… Spirits Jane, you feel amazing.” He groaned. Pausing as they both adjusted to each other.

After a few moments of heavy breathing, he started to move and Jane felt amazing. Every little ridge rubbed against her walls and stroked her insides like they were meant to fit together and not for the last time Shepard knew she was ruined for human partners. If she cared she might be worried she was developing a fetish but Shepard knew herself well enough that it wasn’t just the fact that they fit amazingly between her legs.

No, she cared about Saren and Garrus. So when Garrus pulled out and slowly pushed back in it felt just so much better.

It was slow, Garrus seemed intent on taking his time and mapping out every little sensitive spot on her body. Leaving her an arching moaning mess. She was on the edge and by the way, he was breathing he was too.

“Garrus… Aah just… please, I’m so close.” This earned her a growl as he leaned down and nuzzled her neck just before he slammed into her. Hard.

She nearly screamed as she came and suddenly she was held at that peak as he rode her through it, chasing his own completion. She was hypersensitive but wanted more as she squirmed and moaned squealing under him before he finally slid home and came inside her.

They were both panting, catching their breath. Garrus breathing heavily against her neck and nuzzling her for a moment as she clung to him.

Far to soon he pulled back and looked towards the door, Mandibles flaring in a grin.

“Did you enjoy the show?” He purred.

Confused Shepard turned to see Saren, only wear the lower half of his undersuit and stroking himself slowly as he leaned against the wall.

As her eyes landed on that beautiful blue member the heat she thought Garrus had quenched lit again.

“Very much so.” Saren purred, as his eyes raked over the pair.


End file.
